Lesson 0: An introduction to special relativity

Albert Einstein developed the special theory of relativity (or special relativity) in 1905. Before special relativity, there were a number of problems with the classical explanations of electroma netism which in !instein"s view contradicted the principle of relativity. #pecial relativity is based on two simple postulates$ 1. %he special principle of relativity$ %he laws of physics are the same for all observers, re ardless of their velocity. &. %he speed of li ht in a vacuum (c) is constant$ %hat is, everyone will always measure the speed of li ht as bein the same (i.e. c ' &99,(9),*5) m+s), re ardless of their own velocity. %he important point here is that the speed of light is the same for all observers. #uppose you measure the speed of a beam of li ht travellin towards you and record it"s speed as c. ,ccordin to -ewtonian (or classical) physics, if someone else travellin at 1 m+s (relative to you) were then to measure the speed of a beam of li ht travellin towards them, then they would measure the speed of li ht to be c . 1 m+s. /owever, this does not prove to be the case in practice 0 everyone records the same speed of li ht re ardless of their velocity relative to each other. !instein explained this by proposin that the way you view space and time to be different from the way the other person views space and time. %he mathematical description of this became the special theory of relativity. #pecial relativity remained controversial for many years after it"s first publication. /owever, as experiments became more accurate, special relativity was accepted by the scientific community. 1espite this, !instein did not recieve a -obel pri2e for this wor3 0 he was ranted that honour for his wor3 on the photo0electric effect. %he special relativity simulator, Warp, is an attempt to explain some of the stran e conse4uences of special realativity. 5hat does it mean that my view of space and time is different to your view6 5ell, if you follow the next few lessons and have a play with Warp then hopefully you will understand...

Lesson 1: Changing the View

5arp consists of a three0dimensional environment that may be navi ated usin the mouse or the 3eyboard. 5hen 5arp starts, the you should be presented with the followin screen$

7n this case the ob8ect is a teapot viewed from above. %his isn"t obvious at first, so we need to chan e our point of view. %he viewpoint can be chan ed by usin the arrow buttons on the 9onsole Bar. 7t is also possible to use the 3eypad to achieve the same effect.

:eys "*" and ";" move the camera hori2ontally left and ri ht respectively. :eys ")" and "&" move the camera vertically up and down respectively. :eys "5" and "0" move the camera into and out of the screen respectively.

%hat said, you mi ht prefer to use fixed movement axes. %his means that the arrows on the 9onsole will always move the camera alon the axes of the 5arp universe. 7f this sounds li3e a ood idea then press "r" to chan e into this fixed axis system. 5hile this may not seem li3e a ood idea at first, it becomes more useful later, so 3eep it in mind.

<ress "r" to to

le "camera relative" mode on + off.

-ote that if you o inside the teapot you will see the teapot as a wireframe. %his is because 5arp tries to save computin time by not drawin the inside (or in some cases the bac3) of ob8ects. -ormally this isn"t a problem, but if it ever does bother you, 8ust press "b". %his will force 5arp to draw everythin properly. %he downside it that 5arp may run slower.

<ressin "b" will force 5arp to draw the inside (or bac3) of ob8ects. <ressin "b" a ain will return 5arp to normal.

%he wireframe inside of the teapot is shown below.

7t is also possible to rotate the camera by clic3in and dra in with the left mouse button within the =ain 5indow. %his can be a little confusin but the blue rid beneath the ob8ect should allow you to 3eep your bearin s. 7 recommend that whenever you want to move around the ob8ect, you should ali n the camera in the direction of the 20axis. %his is shown by a red line on the >rid. ,t the end of the line there is a red "." so you will 3now which direction the camera is facin . 9amera rotation can also be done usin the 3eyboard.

:eys "?" and "@" rotate the camera up and down respectively. :eys "," and "." rotate the camera left and ri ht respectively.

%he ob8ect orientation can also be chan ed. 9lic3in and hold the ri ht mouse button. %he blue rid will appear a ain. %hen dra the mouse. %he ob8ect will rotate about its centre point until you are happy with its orientation, as shown below.

,lternatively, you can use the arrow 3eys to rotate the ob8ect to its desired position. 9han in the view mi ht be slow and 8er3y on slower computers. Aou mi ht be able mar inally improve performance by usin the followin options$

<ressin "w" will ma3e 5arp switch to "wireframe" mode. <ressin "w" a ain will chan e bac3 to "solid" mode.

<ressin "c" will ma3e the 9onsole Bar disappear. %his is also useful for revealin parts of the ob8ect that may be hidden behind the 9onsole. Aou can still rotate the camera and ob8ect usin the mouse, but you will need to use the 3eyboard to chan e the position of the camera. <ressin "c" a ain will brin bac3 the 9onsole. <ressin " " will to le the >rid on + off. /owever, this can ma3e movin around the ob8ect confusin .

, screen showin a wireframe teapot with no console is shown below.

-ow you can move about the camera, you are ready to do some experiments with special relativityB %o find out how, continue to Cesson &.

Lesson : E!periments at "igh #peed$

/avin mastered the control of the camera, you are now ready to see 5arp do what it was desi ned to do. %hat is showin you what thin s would loo3 li3e at (very) hi h speeds. %o chan e the speed you need to use the #peed Bar on the left hand side of the 9onsole Bar, as shown below.

%he reen line indicates your current speed in the direction of the 20axis of the 5arp universe. %he 20axis is directly into the screen when you start 5arp, and the camera"s velocity is always alon this axis. By clic3in with the left mouse button on the #peed Bar and dra in the mouse, you can chan e your speed. %he line will chan e si2e to indicate the speed. Durthermore, its colour will radually chan e to yellow as you et close to the speed of li ht. %he scale of the #peed Bar is lo arithmic. %his means that the #peed Bar is clearer at hi her speeds. Dor example, leftmost tic3 mar3 (the one above the "0") indicates a speed of 0 m+s. %he ri htmost tic3 mar3 (the one above the "c") indicates the speed of li ht (exactly &99,(9&,*5) m+s B). %he mar3s in0between from left to ri ht indicate &0E, *0E, ;0E and )0E of the speed of li ht respectively. %his lo arithmic scale allows you to vary your speed more sensitively as you approach the speed of li ht. 7nstead of usin the mouse, it is possible to chan e your speed usin the 3eyboard, which can be more sensitive than the mouse.

<ress "a" to increase your speed. <ress "2" to decrease your speed.

%his is all well and ood, but the excitin stuff happens in the main window. %ry this . .. 1. Fearran e the camera and teapot so that it is off centre. &. 7ncrease the speed radually from 0 m+s to about 90E of the speed of li ht. G. Aou should see the teapot shoot of into the distance. 1on"t worryB %his is meant to happenB =ore about this in Cesson G, but for now brin bac3 the teapot by holdin down the space bar. %he teapot will come rushin towards you. Cet o of the space bar when the teapot is nearby. 7f the teapot went too far, hold down return to brin it bac3. Aou"ll probably see somethin a bit li3e below . . .

5ooahhB 5hat"s oin on here6 Hur teapot has been hideously deformed. ,nd it chan ed colour. ,nd, is it 8ust me, or did it et bri hter too6 5ell, 7"m sure the physicists amon you will tell us that this is all down to !instein"s %heory of #pecial Felativity. 7n fact there are three different effects oin on here.

Corent2 %ransformations 1oppler !ffect /eadli ht !ffect

5e will explain these one at a time in later lessons. But first, try holdin down the "space bar" a ain. Aou should see the teapot shoot of past you. 5hat you are doin is settin time in motion. 5hereas before time was fro2en and you were seein a snapshot of the teapot, by pressin the "space bar" you increase time by a small amount. %he teapot there for starts movin because of it"s velocity relative to the camera. Aou can reverse time by pressin "Feturn". ,nd if thin s et completely out of hand, you can set the time bac3 to 2ero by pressin "t". #o 8ust for completeness . . .

<ress the "space bar" to increment the time in the 5arp universe. <ress "Feturn" to reverse increment the time. <ress "t" to reset the time.

,nyway, now that"s sorted, you are ready to learn about Corent2 %ransformations in Cesson G.

Lesson %: Lorent& 'ransforms E!plained

!r hB 5hat a nasty soundin title. But it"s not that bad. -o reallyB Dirst, thin3 of an experiment . . . %wo spaceships, , and B, are drivin towards each other. , spaceman, who is sittin still in space, sees both spaceships oin at 1,000,000 m+s (one million metres per second). %he pilot in spaceship , wants to 3now how fast spaceship B is approachin him. 7n pre0!instein physics (i.e. before special relativity) he would assume that spaceship B approachin him at &,000,000 m+s. #paceship B then slows to a halt. %he pilot decides to do an experiment and measure the speed of li ht. /e measures the speed of a ray of li ht headin towards him. /e ets a result of G00,000,000 m+s (that"s three0hundred million metres per second). =eanwhile, spaceship , is still oin at 1,000,000 m+s. %he pilot also decides to measure the speed of a ray of li ht comin towards him. 5hat result does he et6 1. &. G. *. G01,000,000 m+s (three0hundred and one million metres per second)6 &99,000,000 m+s (two0hundred and ninety nine million metres per second)6 G00,000,000 m+s (three0hundred million metres per second)6 !h6

7f you said "&" or "*" then o bac3 and reread this lesson from the be innin . 7f you said "1" then nearly every physicist in the world would a ree with you . . . up until 1905 and !instein that is. %he correct answer is "G" because the speed of light is the same for all observers. %his is what special relativity is all about. 7t doesn"t matter if you are travelin at &00,000,000 m+s or standin still, you will always et the same result for the speed of li ht. , 1utchman named /endri3 ,ntoon Corent2 reali2ed that this could be explained if ob8ects in motion under o transformations called the Lorent& 'ransformations(

7n these e4uations x, y, 2 and t set the coordinates of space and time respectively from an observers point of view. ,lso, x", y", 2" and t" set the coordinates accordin to the sub8ect. %he velocity, v, is in the direction of the x0axis and c is the speed of li ht. #o what does this mean6 5ell, it means that funny thin happen to the way thin s loo3. Dor example, the first ima e shows a stationary lattice. %he second ima e shows the

same lattice travelin towards us at close to the speed of li htB -otice how you can see the bac3 of some of the lattice members despite the fact that they are in front of youB Iery stran e.

v ' 0 m+s

v 0J c 5arp simulates the Corent2 %ransformations, and it is worth pointin out that if you try movin around a warped ob8ect you mi ht find it a bit stran e. Dirst of all, as you increase the speed, the ob8ect will enerally shoot off into the distance. 5hy6 5ell, loo3 at the first e4uation iven in this lesson. Aou see that if we increase the velocity, v, but hold the time, t, constant then x" will diver e from x. Hf course in real life it"s impossible to increase your speed instantaneously but this is exactly what happens in 5arp. 5arp holds time still until you tell it otherwise. Femember in the Cesson & when the teapot went shootin off as you increased the speed6 5ell you are now in a position to understand what was oin on. %he speed was increased, the time wasn"t, so x" became lar e and hence the teapot shot off into the distance. #imple. %he result of all this waffle is that when you chan e you speed in 5arp, you will also have to chan e the time. ,s outlined earlier, you do this usin "space" and "return". 7f

you for et to do this, your ob8ect will disappear off the ed e of the 5arp universe, and you"ll be terribly upset. ,nyway, the ob8ect may behave in unpredictable ways because of the way that the twistin at hi h speeds. 7f you don"t want to et thorou hly confused when movin around ob8ects 7 recommend reducin the speed before movin . 7 also find that it is easier to wor3 with the camera fixed on the axes of the 5arp universe as outlined in Cesson 1. 7f you recall, this involved pressin "r" to to le the "camera relative" mode. %hat said, if you do want to be completely perplexed, please try movin + rotatin the teapot around at hi h speed and see what happensB =ovin on, the observant amon you will have noticed that the colour of ob8ects in 5arp also chan es. %his is due to 1oppler #hiftin , which we tal3 about in Cesson *

Lesson ): All the Colours of the *ainbow + 'he ,oppler Effect

H3ay, those of you with ood memories will recall that the teapot in Cesson 1 chan ed colour as we increased the speed. %his is all down to the ood ol" 1oppler !ffect. Dor those of you who don"t 3now what that is, let me explain . . . Femember the last time you heard an ambulance o by6 Femember how the pitch of the siren chan ed as the ambulance went past6 %hat"s the 1oppler effect. %he sound waves emitted by the siren et s4uashed up as the ambulance comes towards you, and hence the siren seems hi h pitched. Ci3ewise, when the ambulance has passed, the sound waves are stretched out and hence you hear a low0pitched siren. Ci ht also behaves li3e a wave (except in Kuantum =echanics, but !instein didn"t li3e Kuantum =echanics so we"ll pretend it doesn"t exist (B)). %herefore, it is sub8ect to exactly the same effect. Ci ht emitted from an ob8ect rushin towards us will have its waves s4uashed up. /ence, the colours will be shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum. 9onversely, li ht waves from an ob8ect rushin away from us will appear redder. %hese chan es are called blue shift and red shift respectively. ,t very hi h speeds visible li ht emitted by the ob8ect can be shifted out of the visible spectrum, and hence the ob8ect would not be visible to the human eyeB %he ori inal wavelen th is shifted accordin to the followin formula$

/ere, lambda is the wavelen th, v is the speed, and theta is the an le that the vector to the point on the ob8ect ma3es with the direction of motion (for those who are interested). 5arp simulates the 1oppler effect on fast movin ob8ects. 7n order to see this, try the followin $ 1. #et the speed to 2ero and arran e the ob8ect to your preference. &. <ress "h". %his turns off the /eadli ht effect, which we are not interested at the moment, but we will come bac3 to later. G. -ow hold down "a" to increase the speed slowly. *. ,s ever, use "space" and "return" to et the ob8ect bac3 on the screen. Aou will notice that the colour of the ob8ect slowly chan es. Aou may even end up seein bands of colour. %his is due to the an le term in the pervious e4uation. Aou may end up seein somethin li3e this$

,s you can see the ob8ect suddenly turns white (li3e the left hand side of the teapot above). %his means that the colour has been shifted out of the optical spectrum. 7n reality it would no lon er be visible, but 5arp shows this as white to aid visibility. %he 1oppler effect is the reason that 5arp draws everythin in reen to start with. >reen is in the middle of the optical spectrum, so you are able to et a ood ran e for both red and blue shiftin . /owever, if you are only interested in, say, blue shift (ob8ects comin towards you), then you can chan e the ori inal colour of the ob8ects. %o do this you need to use the "." and "0" 3eys, which will slowly chan e the hue of an ob8ect until you are happy. #o if you are interested in blue shiftin you mi ht want to start of with a red teapot to ive yourself the lar est possible colour ran e to play with.

Lse "." and "0" to chan e the hue of the ob8ect.

/owever, sometimes you won"t want to see the 1oppler effect. ,fter all, those colours can be a bit hard on the eyes. #o . . .

<ress "d" to turn off the 1oppler effect. <ress "d" a ain to turn it bac3 on.

Aou now 3now all about the 1oppler effect and how colour is used in 5arp. /owever, you mi ht remember that 7 mentioned the "headli ht effect". 5ell, this is

another interestin phenomena of special relativity and is the sub8ect of the next lesson.

Lesson -: .right Lights + 'he "eadlight Effect

5e now turn our attention to one of the stran er effects of special relativity, the headli ht effect. %he best way to explain this is to ima ine a torch that, in its own frame, emits a beam of li ht in the shape of a cone. %his cone"s sides ma3e an an le of phi with respect to the x0axis (i.e. the torch is pointin alon the x0axis). %his is shown in the followin dia ram.

-ow ima ine that the torch moves alon the x0axis with some velocity, v. 9ontrary to what you mi ht expect, the an le phi will become narrowerB %his contraction is 3nown as the /eadli ht effect. %he amount that phi narrows is iven by the followin e4uation$

#o what does this mean in relation to 5arp6 5ell, the important thin to note is that the torch isn"t ivin off any less li ht. %he same amount of li ht is bein focused into a smaller area. %herefore, an approachin torch will seem bri hter than a stationary torch. Ci3ewise, a recedin torch will appear dar3er. %his doesn"t 8ust apply to torches. 7t also applies to any ob8ect travelin towards an observer. %he chan e in li ht intensity, 7, is iven by the followin relationship$

. Aou can see the headli ht effect in 5arp by tryin the followin $ 1. &. G. *. ,rran e the ob8ect as you li3e it. <ress "d" to turn off the 1oppler effect. 7ncrease the speed to some arbitrary value. >uess what6 Lse "space" and "return" to alter the time and hence view of the ob8ect. Boy, 7 et tired of sayin thatB

7f you arran ed the ob8ect so that it is speedin towards you then you should see somethin li3e this$

-otice how bri ht the teapot is. /owever, if the ob8ect is travelin away from you then you should see somethin more li3e this$

/ere the headli ht effect has dar3ened everythin to such an extent that you can"t see much of the ori inal colourB Hf course this can be a bit of a pain so you can turn the headli ht effect off$

<ress "h" to to

le the headli ht effect on + off.

H3ay, you should now understand all of the relativity effects that 5arp simulates. %he best way to learn about these thin s is to have a play around with 5arp, and see what you can do. /owever, by now you are probably bored with the teapot and want to try other thin s. 5ell, that"s the sub8ect of the next lesson.

Lesson /: 0dds and Ends

5ell you"ve more or less seen it all. But a couple of thin s still remain . . . 1$ Coadin Hther Hb8ectsB By now you"ll be totally bored with the teapot. Cuc3ily, 5arp supports other ob8ects. Dirst you"ll need to visit the 1ownload pa e to download some models. Hnce you"ve un2ipped these onto your computer, simply clic3 on the bi yellow button in the middle of the console. %his will brin up a box that will allow you to load the new ob8ects. =ay 7 recommend the lattices, as they ma3e visualisin special relativity a lot easier. =ost of the ob8ects are reat fun, for example 7 bet you"ve never seen the !iffel tower li3e this$

&$ :eyboard short cuts. Aou mi ht be overawed with all the 3eyboard shortcuts used by 5arp, but don"t worryB #imply press D1 to brin up a little help box to remind yourself of all the 3eysB /urrahB Hr you can loo3 at the next lesson for a 4uic3 summary.

Lesson 1: #ummary
:eyboard commands$

2ress 31 to bring up the help screen( :eys "*" and ";" move the camera hori2ontally left and ri ht respectively. :eys ")" and "&" move the camera vertically up and down respectively. :eys "5" and "0" move the camera into and out of the screen respectively. <ress "r" to %o le "camera relative" mode on + off. :eys "?" and "@" rotate the camera up and down respectively. :eys "," and "." rotate the camera left and ri ht respectively. Lse the ,rrow :eys to rotate the ob8ect. <ressin <ressin <ressin <ressin "w" will to le "wireframe" mode. " " will to le the rid on + off. "b" will to le "bac3 face" cullin . "c" will to le the 9onsole on + off.

<ress "a" to increase your speed. <ress "2" to decrease your speed. <ress the "space bar" to increment the time in the 5arp universe. <ress "Feturn" to reverse increment the time. <ress "t" to reset the time. Lse "." and "0" to chan e the hue of the ob8ect. <ress "d" to turn off the 1oppler effect. <ress "d" a ain to turn it bac3 on. <ress "h" to to le the headli ht effect on + off. <ress "o" to open a new ob8ect file. <ress "!sc" to !xit 5arp.

5ell doneB Aou"ve made it to the end, and you now 3now all there is to 3now about special relativity (well, sort of). 7 hope it"s not been too dull for you. /ave fun playin aroundB