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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Relativity, almost a hundred years old in its classic Einsteinian form, is one of the most fascinating threads running through science from Galileo's day to ours. This book, based on a short course at the University of Sussex, presents relativity as a natural outgrowth of dynamics: the concepts are introduced through careful physical reasoning and simple mathematics, and are then applied over a wide range, well meshed with current undergraduate syllabuses.

The book features: An accessible introduction through pre-Einstein relativity; scrupulously assessed experimental evidence (mostly modern); elementary mathematics, aimed at a working acquaintance with kinematics, energy and momentum conservation, and the propagation of plane waves; many carefully chosen examples and student problems. Introduction to the Relativity Principle is suitable for undergraduates studying physics, also as a preliminary to more formal courses designed for mathematicians.

(Extracted from the preface and from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

-Contents.

-Preface.

-Part I. Introductory.

1. Preliminaries.
2. The Relativity Principle, and Its Applications in Newtonian Physics.
3. Einstein's Relativity Principle.

-Part II. Kinematics.

4. Lorentz Transformations.
5. Invariant Intervals and Space-Time Diagrams.
6. Proper Time and Nonuniform Motion.
7. Four-Vectors.
8. For-Acceleration.

-Part III. Momentum and Energy.

9. Particle Dynamics: Momentum and Energy.
10. Natural Units, and the Prevalence of MeV.
11. Systems of Particles: Four-Momentum Conservation Using Invariants.

-Part IV. Waves.

12. Plane Waves.
13. Light Waves in Empty Space: Aberration and Doppler Effect.

-Appendices.

A. Lorentz Transformations with Arbitrary Relative Velocity.
B. Vectors, Four-Vectors, and Transformation Matrices.
C. Motion Under Given Forces.
D. Wave Equations.
E. Black-Body Radiation: The Lorentz Transformation of Planck's Law.

-Problems.

-Index.