Article View: sci.physics.relativity
Article #474Re: HOW EINSTEIN USED MAXWELL
From: Marvin the Martian
Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 12:59
Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 12:59
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3354 bytes
On Fri, 07 May 2010 15:20:43 -0700, PD wrote: >> The idea that light speed is always measured as being c is a direct >> consequence of Lorentz's 'contraction' idea. > > No, you've got cart before the horse. Lorentz contraction is a direct > consequence of light speed always being measured as being c. What you > said is exactly backwards. The Lorentz transformation is the transformation that holds Maxwell's equations invariant under a transformation in velocity. The laws of physics should be the same regardless of the velocity of the observer. In other words, the equations need to be of the same form for all observers regardless of the velocity of the observer. Newton's laws transform quite well under a Galilean transformation, but Maxwell's equations don't. So Lorentz and others worked the problem to find under what transformation Maxwell's equations DO transform under, and the answer is now called the Lorentz transformation. The Lorentz transformation IS Special Relativity. Do Maxwell's equations presume a medium? No. However, one starts with Maxwell's equations to derive the wave equation, which very much looks like the classical equation of a wave, which suggests a medium. They looked for a medium, using what they thought should be the characteristics of that medium, and came up with squat. However, Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz transform STILL makes useful predictions.
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X-Google-Thread: 237b8ad48,e17dad18d26e7f0c X-Google-Attributes: gid237b8ad48,public,usenet X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!g2news2.google.com!news2.google.com!Xl.tags.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!local2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 07:59:11 -0500 From: Marvin the Martian <marvin@ontomars.org> Subject: Re: HOW EINSTEIN USED MAXWELL Newsgroups: sci.physics.relativity,sci.physics,fr.sci.physique,fr.sci.astrophysique References: <gsqdnSTs5NI8bUfWnZ2dnUVZ_hoAAAAA@mchsi.com> <e9c2u5h8pbgeqnvqdp9eh8h21qah41q17u@4ax.com> <_tCdnZX_B-0Y5XzWnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com> <pci4u5dqtkilnss2bqalta3tkcp47ctv16@4ax.com> <bsidnVwJ7sNyfH_WnZ2dnUVZ_uOdnZ2d@giganews.com> <52d6u5de7v4nqikmrm88olbfl85f83hah4@4ax.com> <f6-dnQATc9DRwX7WnZ2dnUVZ_qmdnZ2d@giganews.com> <1e37u5pkhf30ncknd0t3tkml3h0q3rf2um@4ax.com> <2ef669aa-9d2a-4c6e-8b8d-f8484ed7728d@37g2000yqm.googlegroups.com> <r719u5d7hule57jdfsp85chukbpevutugd@4ax.com> <af682686-f373-4255-ab8f-0a20b896dab7@q33g2000vbt.googlegroups.com> User-Agent: Pan/0.133 (House of Butterflies) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-ID: <z8-dnZB2ZL-C_XjWnZ2dnUVZ_oepnZ2d@giganews.com> Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 07:59:11 -0500 Lines: 32 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-bi9JONYTl1D6Ny4wzX9NpLAJBmPwk3yddRc+JvjsWTznlj8p6VrT7xvi5Y8frQ6uuZgofALSUC1tMQk!yy6ORP+jTh9XpPonlbAtL5vq8GTatRMA8K6fH+kI/X2qZEcfe+gkmAmRkWn1NCQHkSZP8YBnKw== X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40