Special Relativity
by Helliwell
ISBN: 9781891389610 | Copyright 2009
Instructor Requests
Special Relativity is a superb text for students to begin or continue a serious study of physics. Describing the most accessible of the 20th-century revolutions, it also illustrates the fact that nature is stranger than one imagines. The book evolved through years of teaching a highly-successful course to thousands of first-year students in science and engineering. It is appropriate as part of an introductory physics course, as a supplement to a _x001C_modern physics_x001D_ course, as a text for a special topics or advanced placement course, or even as a supplement in an advanced undergraduate course. Numerous illustrations, examples, and problems are presented throughout, with the concise mathematical description postponed until after the reader has built up some physical intuition for what is going on. The book contains many applications, from particle decays, colliding-beam experiments and photon rockets to a brief introduction to relativistic gravitation, including the Principle of Equivalence, the effect of altitude on clocks, and the Global Positioning System. Ten appendices can be taken up as interest and time allow, including the _x001C_Cosmic Speed Limit._x001D_ The book is a serious introduction, praised for its clarity, accessibility, and informal, light-hearted style. A detailed Solutions Manual is available for adopting professors.An online Instructor’s Manual is available exclusively for adopting professors.Translated into Japanese.
Published under the University Science Books imprint
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| Front Cover (pg. i) | |
| Special Relativity (pg. ii) | |
| Copyright (pg. v) | |
| Dedication (pg. vi) | |
| Brief Contents (pg. viii) | |
| Contents (pg. x) | |
| Preface (pg. xiv) | |
| 1. Inertial Frames and Classical Mechanics (pg. 1) | |
| 1.1 Inertial Frames and Newton’s Laws (pg. 1) | |
| 1.2 The Galilean Transformation (pg. 4) | |
| 1.3 Newton’s Third Law and Momentum Conservation (pg. 8) | |
| 1.4 Energy (pg. 11) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 14) | |
| Problems (pg. 15) | |
| 2. Light and the Ether (pg. 19) | |
| 2.1 The Aberration of Light (pg. 20) | |
| 2.2 The Michelson–Morley Experiment (pg. 21) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 24) | |
| Problems (pg. 27) | |
| 3. Einstein’s Postulates (pg. 29) | |
| 3.1 A Revolutionary Proposal (pg. 29) | |
| 3.2 Spheres of Light (pg. 32) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 34) | |
| Problems (pg. 36) | |
| 4. Time Dilation (pg. 39) | |
| 4.1 The Light Clock (pg. 41) | |
| 4.2 Measuring Time Dilation (pg. 43) | |
| 4.3 Evidence (pg. 44) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 46) | |
| Problems (pg. 48) | |
| 5. Lengths (pg. 51) | |
| 5.1 Transverse Lengths (pg. 51) | |
| 5.2 The Longitudinal Contraction of Lengths (pg. 52) | |
| 5.3 The Longitudinal Light Clock (pg. 55) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 58) | |
| Problems (pg. 60) | |
| 6. Simultaneity (pg. 63) | |
| 6.1 The Relativity of Simultaneity (pg. 63) | |
| 6.2 Clock Synchronization in a Single Reference Frame (pg. 65) | |
| 6.3 In the Very Process of Synchronizing Two Clocks, a Moving Observer Disagrees (pg. 68) | |
| 6.4 Overall Summary (pg. 71) | |
| 6.5 No Universal Now! (pg. 71) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 72) | |
| Problems (pg. 76) | |
| 7. Paradoxes (pg. 81) | |
| 7.1 If Your Clock Runs Slow to Me, How Can My Clock Run Slow to You? (pg. 81) | |
| 7.2 If Your Meterstick Is Short to Me, How Can My Meterstick Be Short to You? (pg. 84) | |
| 7.3 The Magician’s Assistant (pg. 85) | |
| 7.4 Rigid Bodies, a Pole Vaulter, and a Barn (pg. 88) | |
| 7.5 The Twin “Paradox” (pg. 90) | |
| Sample Problem (pg. 91) | |
| Problems (pg. 93) | |
| 8. The Lorentz Transformation (pg. 97) | |
| 8.1 Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation (pg. 98) | |
| 8.2 Time Dilation, Length Contraction, and Leading Clocks (pg. 100) | |
| 8.3 The Velocity Transformation (pg. 102) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 106) | |
| Problems (pg. 108) | |
| 9. Spacetime (pg. 113) | |
| 9.1 Minkowski Spacetime (pg. 115) | |
| 9.2 Timelike, Null, and Spacelike Intervals (pg. 118) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 122) | |
| Problems (pg. 126) | |
| 10. Momentum (pg. 131) | |
| 10.1 Classical Momentum (pg. 131) | |
| 10.2 Momentum in Relativity (pg. 133) | |
| 10.3 Momentum in Four-Dimensional Spacetime (pg. 133) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 139) | |
| Problems (pg. 141) | |
| 11. Energy (pg. 143) | |
| 11.1 Energy and Inertia (pg. 143) | |
| 11.2 The Energy–Momentum Four-Vector (pg. 146) | |
| 11.3 Example: The Decay of a Particle (pg. 150) | |
| 11.4 Energy Units (pg. 151) | |
| 11.5 Photons (pg. 153) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 154) | |
| Problems (pg. 156) | |
| 12. Applications (pg. 159) | |
| 12.1 Binding Energy in Atoms and Molecules (pg. 159) | |
| 12.2 Nuclear Binding Energies (pg. 162) | |
| 12.3 Decays of Single Particles into Two Particles (pg. 164) | |
| 12.4 Decay into Three Particles (pg. 167) | |
| 12.5 Photoproduction of Pions (pg. 168) | |
| 12.6 Compton Scattering (pg. 170) | |
| 12.7 Forbidden Reactions (pg. 172) | |
| 12.8 Photon Rockets (pg. 172) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 174) | |
| Problems (pg. 176) | |
| 13. Transforming Energy and Momentum (pg. 181) | |
| 13.1 The Energy–Momentum Transformation (pg. 182) | |
| 13.2 Light Aberration and the Relativistic Doppler Effect (pg. 184) | |
| 13.3 The Appearance of Stars to a Fast-Moving Spaceship (pg. 191) | |
| 13.4 Threshold Energies (pg. 192) | |
| 13.5 Colliding-Beam Experiments (pg. 196) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 197) | |
| Problems (pg. 199) | |
| 14. Gravitation (pg. 203) | |
| 14.1 The Principle of Equivalence (pg. 204) | |
| 14.2 Clock Rates (pg. 207) | |
| 14.3 The Hafele–Keating Experiment (pg. 208) | |
| 14.4 Satellite Clocks (pg. 212) | |
| 14.5 The Global Positioning System (pg. 213) | |
| References (pg. 217) | |
| Sample Problems (pg. 217) | |
| Problems (pg. 219) | |
| Appx. A The Binomial Approximation (pg. 223) | |
| Problems (pg. 226) | |
| Appx. B The “Paradox” of Light Spheres (pg. 227) | |
| Appx. C The Appearance of Moving Objects (pg. 233) | |
| C.1 An Approaching Spaceship (pg. 233) | |
| C.2 Quasar Jets (pg. 234) | |
| C.3 The “Terrell Twist” (pg. 236) | |
| Problems (pg. 240) | |
| Appx. D The Twin Paradox Revisited (pg. 243) | |
| Appx. E The “Cosmic Speed Limit” (pg. 251) | |
| E.1 Some Difficulties (pg. 251) | |
| E.2 Causality Paradoxes (pg. 252) | |
| E.3 “Things” That Go Faster Than Light (pg. 255) | |
| Problems (pg. 257) | |
| Appx. F “Relativistic Mass” and Relativistic Forces (pg. 259) | |
| F.1 “Relativistic Mass” (pg. 259) | |
| F.2 Forces and Newton’s Second Law (pg. 261) | |
| F.3 Constant-Force Motion (pg. 262) | |
| F.4 General One-Dimensional Motion (pg. 263) | |
| Problems (pg. 264) | |
| Appx. G The Ultimate Relativistic Spaceflight (pg. 267) | |
| Problems (pg. 274) | |
| Appx. H Nuclear Decays, Fission, and Fusion (pg. 277) | |
| H.1 Nuclear Decays (pg. 277) | |
| H.2 Nuclear Fusion (pg. 279) | |
| H.3 Nuclear Fission (pg. 281) | |
| Problems (pg. 283) | |
| Appx. I Some Particles (pg. 287) | |
| Appx. J Relativity and Electromagnetism (pg. 289) | |
| Answers to Some Odd-Numbered Problems (pg. 295) | |
| Index (pg. 301) | |
| Some Constants and Physical Properties (pg. 306) | |
| Some Conversion Factors (pg. 306) | |
Thomas M. Helliwell
Thomas M. Helliwell is Burton Bettingen Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Harvey Mudd College. He received his B.A. from Pomona College and his Ph.D. at Caltech, where his thesis was on atomic physics and quantum mechanics. He has published more than 40 research papers, many with undergraduate coauthors, in quantum mechanics and general relativity. He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate courses, from beginning to advanced, in classical mechanics, special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and electromagnetism. He has also served as director of the freshman division, chair of the physics department, chair of the faculty, and dean of faculty.| Instructors Only | |
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