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Encyclopedia > Galilean invariance

Galilean invariance is a principle which states that the fundamental laws of physics are the same in all inertial (uniform-velocity) frames of reference. Galileo Galilei described this principle using the example of a ship traveling at constant speed, without rocking, on a smooth sea: someone doing experiments belowdecks would not be able to tell whether the ship was moving or stationary. A physical law or a law of nature is a scientific generalization based on empirical observations. ... In psychology, social inertia describes a persons resistance to change. ... This article is about velocity in physics. ... Frame of reference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... On January 7, 1610 Galileo discovered three of Jupiters four largest satellites (moons): Io, Europa, and Callisto. ... Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems considers all the common arguments against the idea that the Earth moves. ...


Specifically, the term Galilean invariance today usually refers to this principle as applied to Newtonian mechanics, under which all lengths and times remain unaffected by a change of velocity, which is described mathematically by a Galilean transformation. The original version of the physical discipline of mechanics, due to Sir Isaac Newton, who developed the theory over a period from about 1664, until the publication of his great work, known as the Principia, in 1687. ... The Galilean transformation is used to transform between the coordinates of two coordinate systems in a constant relative motion in Newtonian physics. ...


Maxwell's equations governing electromagnetism possess a different symmetry, Lorentz invariance, under which lengths and times are affected by a change in velocity, which is then described mathematically by a Lorentz transformation. Albert Einstein's central insight in formulating special relativity was that, for full consistency with electromagnetism, mechanics must also be revised such that Lorentz invariance replaces Galilean invariance. At the low relative velocities characteristic of everyday life, Lorentz invariance and Galilean invariance are nearly the same, but for relative velocities close to that of light they are very different. Maxwells equations are the set of four equations, attributed to James Clerk Maxwell (written by Oliver Heaviside), that describe the behavior of both the electric and magnetic fields, as well as their interactions with matter. ... A quadrupole (four-pole) electromagnet, used to focus particle beams in a particle accelerator. ... Lorentz covariance is a term in physics for the property of space time, that in two different frames of reference, located at the same event in spacetime but moving relative to each other, all non-gravitational laws must make the same predictions for identical experiments. ... The Lorentz transformation (LT), named after its discoverer, the Dutch physicist and mathematician Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928), forms the basis for the special theory of relativity, which has been introduced to remove contradictions between the theories of electromagnetism and classical mechanics. ... Albert Einstein photographed by Oren J. Turner in 1947. ... A simple introduction to this subject is provided in Special relativity for beginners Special relativity (SR) or the special theory of relativity is the physical theory published in 1905 by Albert Einstein. ... Prism splitting light Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific setting, electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
Conventional Wisdom (4193 words)
The invariant round-trip speed of light fixes the observable elements of the theory, but it does not uniquely determine the presumed ontological structure, because multiple different interpretations can be made to fit the same set of appearances.
The invariance of lightspeed is a convention, but the invariance of lightspeed in terms of inertial coordinates is an empirical fact, and this empirical fact is not a formal tautology, because inertial coordinates are determined by the mechanical inertia of material objects, independent of the propagation of light.
Thus the empirical fact of lightspeed invariance and isotropy with respect to inertial coordinates remains as a primitive component of the theory.
Universal Symmetry (4557 words)
The Galilean transformation, he realised, is just an approximation to a Lorentz transformation which is a perfect symmetry of electrodynamics.
In the language of symmetry we would say that the laws of electrostatics are invariant under the addition of a value to the potential which is the same everywhere.
Diffeomorphism invariance describes a symmetry of space-time while the symmetry of electromagnetism acts on some abstract internal space of the components of the field.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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