Introduction to special relativity: Difference between revisions

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*[[Length contraction]] (Along the direction of motion, a rod moving with respect to an observer will be measured to be shorter than an identical rod at rest), and

* The [[mass–energy equivalence|equivalence]] of [[mass]] and [[energy]] (written as {{nowrap|''E'' {{=}} ''mc''²}}).

Special relativity predicts a [[non-linear]] [[velocity addition formula]] which prevents [[faster-than-light|speeds greater than that of light]] from being observed. In 1908, [[Hermann Minkowski]] reformulated the theory based on different postulates of a more geometrical nature.<ref>[[Hermann {{Citation|author=Minkowski]], Hermann|year=1909|title=[[https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Raum_und_Zeit_(Minkowski) ":Raum und Zeit"], 80. Versammlung Deutscher Naturforscher (Köln, 1908Minkowski).|Raum und Published in Zeit]]|journal=Physikalische Zeitschrift '''|volume=10''' 104-111 (1909) and Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung '''18''' 75-88 (1909). For an English translation, see Lorentz et al. (1952).</ref>|pages=75–88}}

*Various English translations on Wikisource: [[s:Space and Time|Space and Time]].</ref>

This approach considers space and time as being different components of a single entity, the [[spacetime]], which is "divided" in different ways by observers in relative motion. Likewise, energy and [[momentum]] are the components of the [[four-momentum]], and the [[electric field|electric]] and [[magnetic field]] are the components of the [[electromagnetic tensor]].