Category archives: Relativity

The Principle of Relativity Summary: The principle of relativity asserts that observations depend on the inertial frame, but in such a way that physical laws remain consistent. This class will present the concepts of inertial reference frame and the foundations that allow for the transformations between the coordinates observed by…

The Speed of Light and Electromagnetic Waves in a Vacuum Summary: In this class, we will review how, from the behavior of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum, it is derived from solving Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism in a vacuum. As a consequence, it is found that the speed of propagation…

Galileo’s Transformations and Their Limitations Summary: The principle of relativity suggests that observations depend on the inertial frame, but in such a way that physical laws remain consistent. An initial and intuitive approach to this principle comes from Galileo’s Transformations, which model how observations change between inertial reference frames in…

The Lorentz Transformations of Special Relativity Summary: The Lorentz transformations allow for the transformation of observed space and time coordinates between two inertial reference frames. In this article, we will review how the Lorentz transformations are derived as a linear coordinate transformation that emerges from considering the speed of light…

The Spacetime of Special Relativity Summary: In this class, we will review Lorentz Transformations in the context of special relativity, challenging the notion of absolute time and establishing the constancy of the speed of light in all inertial frames. It explores how these transformations connect the space and time coordinates…

Hyperbolic Rotations of Spacetime Summary: In this class, we will review how Lorentz transformations can be reinterpreted as spacetime rotation transformations. We will start by examining rotations in the four-dimensional Minkowski space, distinguishing between purely spatial rotations and those involving spacetime axes. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of this class,…