Comoving frames and the Lorentz–Fitzgerald contraction
Alon Drory
Abstract
Alon Drory
Abstract
In special relativity, accelerated objects are described through instantaneous comoving frames, to which the usual transformations are then applied. This is not always possible, however. I analyze a simple example of a rod thrown from a train onto a stationary platform. The lack of absolute simultaneity implies that the rod stretches, and its points move with respect to each other. Its length, therefore, changes. Typically, the rod as a whole has no instantaneous rest length and thus no definable proper length. A fortiori, it has no instantaneous rest frame, and the (instantaneous) Lorentz contraction formula is inapplicable.
OpenAlex reports 5 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.
A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.
Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
In special relativity, accelerated objects are described through instantaneous comoving frames, to which the usual transformations are then applied. This is not always possible, however. I analyze a simple example of a rod thrown from a train onto a stationary platform. The lack of absolute simultaneity implies that the rod stretches, and its points move with respect to each other. Its length, therefore, changes. Typically, the rod as a whole has no instantaneous rest length and thus no definable proper length. A fortiori, it has no instantaneous rest frame, and the (instantaneous) Lorentz contraction formula is inapplicable.
Key concepts: Length contraction, Physics, Rest frame, Lorentz transformation, Rest (music), Contraction (grammar), Special relativity, Classical mechanics