Book Description

The special theory of relativity, a monumental achievement of scientific creativity, appeared in 1905 as a culmination of deep and careful analysis of contradictions in old notions. The subject is now taught in almost all universities and colleges in the departments of physics and mathematics. This text is designed to give students a solid foundation in experimental background of the theory, relativistic kinematics, relativistic dynamics, and relativistic electrodynamics. What distinguishes the text are some special features, not found in other similar texts, that give a more intuitive understanding of the subject. Another important feature of the text is its clarity and correctness with which the principles, their relations, and their applications are set forth. This well-accepted book, now in its second edition, includes a brief account of the “properties of Cartesian tensors” and also adds “experimental verifications of the mass variation of a particle with velocity and the mass–energy equivalence relation” in Chapter 3. Besides, in Chapter 4, some calculations to show how the potentials obtained for a uniformly moving charge lead to Lorentz transformation have been added. It also includes some new problems in the exercise section of Chapters 2, 3 and 4 with their solutions given in the Appendix. The book will also be useful for competitive examinations to PG and Ph.D. courses. KEY FEATURES : Discusses relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics of continuous media. Presents the covariant four-dimensional formulation of relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics. Explains the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations in mechanics and electrodynamics. Describes the Terrell effect (visual appearance of moving objects) and the Thomas precession. Includes a large number of solved problems. Provides solutions to end-of-chapter exercises.