2020•Physics EssaysRequires access
Special relativity and the Lorentz sphere
Stephen J. Crothers
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Abstract
The special theory of relativity demands, by Einstein's two postulates (i) the principle of relativity and (ii) the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum, that a spherical wave of light in one inertial system transforms, via the Lorentz transformation, into a spherical wave of light (the Lorentz sphere) in another inertial system when the systems are in constant relative rectilinear motion. However, the Lorentz transformation in fact transforms a spherical wave of light into a translated ellipsoidal wave of light even though the speed of light in vacuum is invariant. The special theory of relativity is logically inconsistent and therefore invalid.