Re: Symmetry in Lorentz transformation equations

[Bob Sciamanda <trebor@VELOCITY.NET>]

----- Original Message -----
From: John S. Denker <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: Symmetry in Lorentz transformation equations


> At 10:09 PM 9/3/99 +0500, DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA wrote:
> > I think that Lorentz transformation is not valid for accelerated
frames.
> The situation is not nearly as bad as that seems to suggest.
>
> It is easy to deal with accelerated reference frames, using the
following
> trick.  At each instant, choose an *instantaneously comoving*
> freely-falling reference frame.  Do the physics in that frame, and then
> move on.
> . . .

There are pitfalls here!  Eg., you cannot use this method to discover the
parabolic depression in a spinning pail of water simply by doing such a
kinematic transformation from a flat, still pail of water!  You must do
the physics; SR won't do it for you!

Bob

Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net
http://www.velocity.net/~trebor