Introduction
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity became a brilliant thought of the 20th century, which almost eliminated the existence of inconsistencies and contradictions of the scientific world. The theory helped to change ideas about the structure of space and time, expanding the idea of the invariability of physical laws depending on the point of observation. At the same time, Einstein showed that the description of the event directly depends on the reporting system and coordinates, such as with the falling glasses of a tram passenger — for them, they fell vertically, but for an outside observer in the street — as the curve. This essay will describe four simulated experiments that show the principles of the theory of relativity.
Relativistic Train
A train passing Alice, who is sitting in the middle of the train, lights up both bulbs at different ends. Since it can be claimed that the passenger is moving at the speed of the train, Alice cannot see the difference between lighting the bulbs but sees the big picture. On the other hand, if an outsider, for example, on a platform, looking at the train, the bulbs for him would not light up at the same time. The lack of identity in the speed at which bulbs light up at different ends of the train for observers from different reference systems is the relativity theory. Despite the apparent complexity of the described events, the Minkowski diagram allows to estimate the four-dimensional space of a moving train: as soon as the boundary of the train reaches the platform, the bulbs light up, but for Alice, these phenomena occur instantly, so she cannot see the difference.
Speed of Light
The second simulation shows the difference in perception of movement at the speed of light. In particular, the plant moves at the speed of light in the opposite direction from the observer. It is clear from the observer’s side that the plant is moving further and further away. Furthermore, as it approaches the speed of light, the object becomes shorter, and once it reaches the c-value, the plant becomes indistinguishable (Taylor 2017). It is essential to clarify that space is compressed relative only to the observer, while the plant does not change objectively. From the plant’s point of view, the time for a resting object is accelerated, which means that the speed of light changes. However, this is only an apparent sensation, since, in each inertial reference system, the light moves faster. In other words, this speed does not depend on whether the source is resting or moving.
Muon Decay
Muons are known to be unstable elementary particles with a half-life of 2.2 µs. This means that when moving towards the Earth, muons would not be able to reach the surface, however, to the observer, muons do. The laws of half-life always work without exception, but the ultra-fast motion of the elementary particles causes the phenomenon of space narrowing. This means that when the speed of light is reached (or as it approaches), the distance is shortened by relativistic laws, which corresponds to the achievement of the particles of the Earth. Therefore, in such tasks, the main thing is to evaluate from what point of view the analysis is carried out. In the Earth’s resting system, time stretches out and flows more slowly. On the contrary, in the muon system, space is shrinking in the direction of motion, in other words, it is shrinking, which leads to a reduction in the distance to the Earth’s surface.
Relativistic Flashlight
This simulation concerns the study of a flashlight and an observer moving together with the speed of light. The flashlight emits photons that are also known to move at the speed of light. In this case, it is asked what a person will observe. All objects (the flashlight, photons, and the observer) move uniformly, therefore it is possible to declare with confidence that they are stable concerning each other. In other words, photons of light do not move away from the observer by a millimeter.
References
Taylor, Nola. 2017. “Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.” Space.Com. Web.