Paper 4, Section I, B

Dynamics and Relativity | Part IA, 2012

Let SS and S′S^{\prime} be inertial frames in 2-dimensional spacetime with coordinate systems (t,x)(t, x) and (t′,x′)\left(t^{\prime}, x^{\prime}\right) respectively. Suppose that S′S^{\prime} moves with positive velocity vv relative to SS and the spacetime origins of SS and S′S^{\prime} coincide. Write down the Lorentz transformation relating the coordinates of any event relative to the two frames.

Show that events which occur simultaneously in SS are not generally seen to be simultaneous when viewed in S′S^{\prime}.

In SS two light sources AA and BB are at rest and placed a distance dd apart. They simultaneously each emit a photon in the positive xx direction. Show that in S′S^{\prime} the photons are separated by a constant distance dc+vc−vd \sqrt{\frac{c+v}{c-v}}.

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