Tests of Relativity - Frontiers in Astrophysics

Explore the intricacies of special relativity in this 45-minute lecture from Yale University's Frontiers/Controversies in Astrophysics course. Delve into the development of post-Newtonian approximations and work through calculations of mass, force, and energy. Compare the differing approaches to concepts like mass and velocity in Newtonian physics and Relativity. Examine the revolutionary discovery of space-time changes near light speed and its impact on Einstein's theories. Investigate the possibility of faster-than-light travel and how physicists might predict such phenomena from laboratory conditions. Use the example of muons, unstable particles formed in Earth's upper atmosphere, to illustrate relativistic effects. Journey through topics including velocity and mass in special relativity, gamma and post-Newtonian mass, the nature of mass, Lorentz transformations, and the interplay between time, light, and the world.