The key attributes of special relativity

Abstract Chapter 3 adopts a more traditional approach to special relativity. Rather than using the k-calculus, it gives the standard derivation of the Lorentz transformations, working in non-relativistic units in which the speed of light is denoted by c, and restricting attention to two inertial observers S and S′ in standard configuration. As before, it shows that the Lorentz transformations follow from the two postulates, namely, the principle of special relativity and the constancy of the velocity of light. It then shows how these leave the distance between two ‘events’ in space-time invariant. This chapter also examines the key physical attributes of special relativity, namely length contraction and time dilation as well as the relativistic Doppler effect. The chapter also discusses uniform acceleration and the twin paradox.