Definition of special relativity in English English dictionary
A theory that (neglecting the effects of gravity) reconciles the principle of relativity with the observation that the speed of light is constant in all frames of reference
The specific set of rules relating observations from one frame of reference to the observations of the same phenomenon in another frame of reference It states that the speed of light is the same for all observers It also equates matter and energy through the equation E = mc2
Einsteins theory based on the idea that the laws of science should be the same for all observers, no matter how they are moving, in the absence of gravitational phenomena
kinematic theory that explains the relations between light and matter (see relativity)
a theory invented by Albert Einstein to describe measurements of length and time for objects moving at constant velocity Although it applies to all motion at constant velocity, it must be used instead of Newton's laws of motion at speeds of greater than about ten percent the speed of light
The physical theory of space and time developed by Albert Einstein, based on the postulates that all the laws of physics are equally valid in all frames of reference moving at a uniform velocity and that the speed of light from a uniformly moving source is always the same, regardless of how fast or slow the source or its observer is moving. The theory has as consequences the relativistic mass increase of rapidly moving objects, the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction, time dilatation, and the principle of mass-energy equivalence. Also called special theory of relativity
The theory that the laws of nature are the same for all observers in unaccelerated motion and the speed of light is independent of the motion of its source Einstein postulated that the time interval between two events was longer for an observer in whose frame of reference the events occur in different places than for the observer for whom they occur at the same place
a physical theory of relativity based on the assumption that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant and the assumption that the laws of physics are invariant in all inertial systems
part of Einstein's theory relating to observers moving uniformly with respect to each other