Abstract
Based on a thought experiment devised by Galileo, this chapter aims to explain the principle of relativity as simply as possible. The main consequence is the invariance of physical phenomena, whether mechanical or electromagnetic. In other words, the laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform rectilinear motion, i.e., moving in a straight line at constant speed relative to each other. We’ll show that to ensure this invariance, physicists have devised a change of coordinates, known as Galileo’s transformation that allows us to move from a fixed to a moving reference frame. We’ll then see that the classical velocity addition law, which is a consequence of the principle of relativity, discovered by Galileo was invalidated by the failure of experiments attempted to demonstrate the Earth’s motion around the Sun. This brings us to the problem of special theory of relativity.
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Notes
- 1.
Indeed, the question is whether time elapses in the same way for a stationary observer as for one in motion. Intuitively, we tend to assume that this is indeed the case. To imagine the opposite would be to admit the possibility of time travel. Until now, this has seemed manifestly impossible.
- 2.
It was in 1911 that this name appeared in the article by Philipp Frank & Hermann Rothe [1].
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Ginoux, JM. (2024). Principle of Relativity. In: Poincaré, Einstein and the Discovery of Special Relativity. History of Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51387-9_3
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