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In this section, you will see how the postulates lead to the theory of special relativity and see how that theory predicts effects on time, distance, momentum, and energy at velocities approaching the speed of light.
- Universal Speed Limit. Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 contains “c,” the speed of light in a vacuum. Although light comes in many flavors – from the rainbow of colors humans can see to the radio waves that transmit spacecraft data – Einstein said all light must obey the speed limit of 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second.
- Strong Lensing. Just like the Sun bends the light from distant stars that pass close to it, a massive object like a galaxy distorts the light from another object that is much farther away.
- Weak Lensing. When a massive object acts as a lens for a farther object, but the objects are not specially aligned with respect to our view, only one image of the distant object is projected.
- Microlensing. So far, we’ve been talking about giant objects acting like magnifying lenses for other giant objects. But stars can also “lens” other stars, including stars that have planets around them.
According to the theory of special relativity, it is impossible to say in an absolute sense whether two distinct events occur at the same time if those events are separated in space. A mathematical form of the relativity of simultaneity was introduced by Hendrik Lorentz and physically interpreted by Henri Poincaré.
Moreover, the theory has many surprising and counterintuitive consequences. Some of these are: Relativity of simultaneity : Two events, simultaneous for one observer, may not be simultaneous for another observer if the observers are in relative motion.
With his theories of special relativity (1905) and general relativity (1915), Einstein overthrew many assumptions underlying earlier physical theories, redefining in the process the fundamental concepts of space, time, matter, energy, and gravity. Along with quantum mechanics, relativity is central to modern physics.
Consequences of Einstein's theory. General relativity has a number of physical consequences. Some follow directly from the theory's axioms, whereas others have become clear only in the course of many years of research that followed Einstein's initial publication. Gravitational time dilation and frequency shift
The consequences of special relativity can be derived from the Lorentz transformation equations. These transformations, and hence special relativity, lead to different physical predictions than those of Newtonian mechanics at all relative velocities, and most pronounced when relative velocities become comparable to the speed of light.
