Concept of Simultaneity in Special Relativity

Concept of Simultaneity (Relative character of Time ): The interval aren't the same for two observes in relative motion. This cause an important incontrovertible fact that two events that appear to happen simultaneously to at least one observer are not simultaneous to another observer in relative motion.

Suppose two events occur (or two-time bombs explode) at different places $x_{1}$ and $x_{2}$ but at the same time $t_{0}$ with respect to an observer in a stationary frame (or on the ground). The situation of the different to an observer in moving frame $S'$ or to a pilot of a spaceship moving with velocity $v$ relative to stationary frame $S$ (or ground). To him, according to Lorentz transformation for time. The explosion at $x_{1}$ occurs at

$t'_{1} = \frac{t_{0} -x_{1}\frac{v}{c^{2}}}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}$

$ x_{2}$ occurs at

$t'_{2} = \frac{t_{0}- x_{2}\frac{v}{c^{2}}}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}$

Hence the two events (explosions) that occur simultaneously to one observer in the stationary frame are separated to another observer in a moving frame by an interval of

$t'_{2}-t'_{1}=\frac{\left ( x_{1}-x_{2} \right )\frac{v}{c^{2}}}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}$

Therefore, the principle of simultaneity in relativity is an absolute concept for two events. It depends on an observer or a frame of reference. The effect is not due to the time dilation. Hence, we conclude that there is no such thing as “absolute time” which is the same for all observers.

“Time is relative and it varies for all observers in relative motion.”

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Mean Value and Root Mean Square Value of Alternating Current

Derivation of the Mean Or Average Value of Alternating Current:

Let us consider alternating current $i$ propagating in a circuit, then the average value of the current.

$ i_{mean}=\frac{1}{\left ( \frac{T}{2} \right )}\int_{0}^{\frac{T}{2}}i \:dt \qquad (1)$

Where $\quad i = i_{0}sin \omega t \quad(2)$

Now substitute the value of current $i$ in above equation $(1)$

$ i_{mean}= \frac{2}{T}\int_{0}^{\frac{T}{2}}i_0. sin \omega t \cdot dt$

$ i_{mean}= \frac{2.i_{0}}{T}\int_{0}^{\frac{T}{2}}\sin \omega t \cdot dt$

$ i_{mean}= \frac{2 i_{0}}{T}[\frac{-cos\:\omega t}{\omega} ]_{0}^{\frac{T}{2}}$

The value of $\omega$ is $\frac{2 \pi}{T}$ i.e $\omega=\frac{2\pi}{T}$

$ i_{mean}= \frac{2 i_{0}}{T \left (\frac{2\pi}{T} \right )}\left [ -cos \left (\frac{2 \pi}{T} \right ) \left ( \frac{T}{2} \right ) \\ \qquad \qquad \qquad +cos0^\circ \right ] $

$ i_{mean}= \frac{i_{0}}{\pi}\left [ - cos\pi+cos0^{\circ} \right ]$

$ i_{mean}=\frac{i_{0}}{\pi}\left [1+1 \right ]$

$ i_{mean} =\frac{2 i_{0}}{\pi}$

$ i_{mean} = 0.637\: i_{0}$

From the above equation, we can conclude that the mean or average value of alternating current for one cycle is $0.637$ times or $63.7 \%$ of its peak value $i_{0}$.

Root mean square value of Alternating Current:

Let us consider a current $i$ propagating in a circuit, then the mean square value of alternating current.

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{1}{T}\int_{0}^{T}i^{2} \cdot dt \quad(1)$

$ where\quad i= i_{0} \dot sin\omega t\quad (2)$

Now substitute the value of current $i$ in above equation $(1)$

$ \left ( i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{1}{T}\int_{0}^{T} \left ( i_{0} \:sin\omega t\right )^{2} dt $

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_{0}^2}{T}\quad \int_{0}^{T} sin^{2}\omega t \cdot dt$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{T}\int_{0}^{T} \frac{1-cos2\omega t}{2}\ dt$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_o^{2}}{2T}\int_{0}^{T}\left ( 1-cos2\omega t \right )dt$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_{0}^{2}}{2T}\left [ \left ( t \right )_{0}^{T} - \left ( \frac{sin2 \omega t}{2 \omega} \right )_{0}^{T} \right ] $

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{2T}\left [ \left ( T-0 \right ) \\ \qquad\qquad\qquad -\frac{1}{2\omega}\left ( sin2\omega T-sin 0^{\circ} \right ) \right ]$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{2T}\left [ \left ( T-0 \right ) \\ \qquad\qquad\qquad -\frac{1}{2\omega}\left ( sin2\omega T-sin0^{\circ} \right ) \right ]$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{2T}\left [ T-\frac{1}{2\omega}\left ( sin4\pi \\ \qquad \qquad\qquad -sin0^{\circ} \right ) \right ]$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{2T}\left [ T-\frac{1}{2\omega}\left ( 0-0 \right ) \right ]$

$ \left ( i_{mean} \right )^{2}=\frac{i_0^{2}}{2}$

$ \left (i_{mean} \right )^{2} = \frac{i_0^{2}}{2}$

So root mean square value of the above equation:

$ i_{rms} = \sqrt{i_{mean}^{2}}$

$i_{rms} = \frac{i_{0}}{\sqrt{2}}$

$i_{rms} = 0.707\:i_{0}$

Thus, the root mean square value of an alternating current is $0.707$ times or $70.7 \%$ of the peak value.

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Assumptions of Planck’s Radiation Law

Planck in 1900 suggested the correct explanation of the black body radiation curve. They gave the following assumption →

1. A chamber contains black body energy radiation and simple harmonic oscillators (atoms of Wall, i.e. Black lamp & Platinum coating inside wall, behave as oscillators or resonators) of molecular dimensions which can vibrate with all possible frequencies.


2. The frequency of energy radiation emitted by an oscillator is the same as the frequency of its vibration.


3. An oscillator cannot emit or absorb the energy in a continuous manner it can emit or absorb energy in a small unit (packet) called Quanta.

If an oscillator is vibrating with a frequency $ \nu $ it can only radiate in quanta of magnitude $h\nu $ i.e. “The oscillator can have only discrete energy value $E_{n}$ ” given by–

$E_{n}=nh\nu$

Where
$n$ – an integer
$h$– Planck ’s constant and the value is $6.626\times10^{-34} J-s$

The average energy of Planck’s oscillator of frequency $\nu$ -

$E_{\lambda}d\lambda = \frac{8\pi hc}{\lambda ^{5}} \frac{d\lambda }{(e^{\frac{hc}{\lambda kT}}-1)}$

$E_{\nu}d\nu= \frac{8\pi h\nu^{3}}{c^{3}}\frac{d\nu }{(e^{\frac{h\nu}{kt}}-1)}$

This assumption is most revolutionary in character. This implies that the exchange of energy between radiation and matter (Black lamp or platinum Coating ) cannot take place continuously but are limited to a discrete set of value $ 0, h\nu, 2h\nu, 3h\nu,------ nh \nu $.

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Heisenberg uncertainty principle

If the x-coordinate of the position of a particle is known to an accuracy of $\delta x$, then the x-component of momentum cannot be determined to an accuracy better than $\Delta P_{x}\approx \frac{\hbar }{\Delta x}$.

$\Delta P_{x}. \Delta x\approx \hbar$

The above inequality must be satisfied

$\Delta P_{x}. \Delta x\geqslant \hbar$

Where $\hbar $ - Planck’s Constant

This is the Uncertainty principle with macroscopic objects. Exact statement of the Uncertainty principle →

The product of the uncertainties in determining the position and momentum of the particle can never be smaller than the number of the order $\frac{\hbar }{2}$.

$\Delta P_{x}. \Delta x\geqslant \frac{\hbar}{2}$

Where $\delta x$ and $\delta P $ are defined as the root mean square deviation from their mean values.

The Uncertainty principle can also describe by the following formula →

$\Delta x.\Delta p_{x}\approx \frac{\hbar}{2}$

$\Delta x.\Delta p_{x}\geqslant \frac{\hbar}{2}$

$\Delta x.\Delta p_{x}\geqslant \frac{h}{4\pi }$

Expression for $y$ and $z$ component →

$\Delta y.\Delta p_{y}\geqslant \frac{h}{4\pi }$

$\Delta z.\Delta p_{z}\geqslant \frac{h}{4\pi }$

The uncertainty relation between energy and time →

$\Delta E.\Delta t\geqslant \frac{h}{4\pi }$

$\Delta E.\Delta t\geqslant \frac{\hbar }{2 }$

The uncertainty relation between momentum and Angular Position→

$\Delta L.\Delta \theta \geqslant \frac{h }{4\pi }$

$\Delta L.\Delta \theta \geqslant \frac{\hbar}{2}$

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Mathematical equation of wave function of a free particle in simple harmonic motion

Periodic motion:

If a particle repeats its motion or path at a regular interval of time, it is known as periodic motion.

Simple Harmonic Motion:

Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M.) is a specific type of periodic motion. In the simple harmonic motion, the force (i.e., restoring force) exerted on the particle is directly proportional to its displacement from the equilibrium position and acts in the opposite direction to that displacement.

Wave:

A wave is the combination of infinite simple harmonic motion equations.

Mathematical Equation:

Let us consider a particle that is doing simple harmonic motion in a circular path with radius $A$. Let at any instant $t$ particle move from position $P_{1}$ to $P_{2}$. So vector resolution of position $P_{2}$ is (as shown in the figure below):

Horizontal Component i.e. $x$ component of position vector $P_{2}$:

$x=A sin(\omega t - \phi) \qquad (1)$

Vertical Component i.e. $y$ component of position vector $P_{2}$:

$y=A cos (\omega t - \phi) \quad (2)$

Simple harmonic motion of a particle

According to Max Born's hypothesis-

"A wave is described by a wave function $\varphi$, which is mathematically expressed in the form of a complex quantity."

So mathematical representation of a wave function

$\varphi= x+iy \qquad (3)$

Now put the value of $x$ and $y$ component in the above equation-

$\varphi= A sin (\omega t - \phi)+ i A cos (\omega t - \phi) $

$\varphi=A [sin (\omega t - \phi)+ i cos (\omega t - \phi) ]$

$\varphi=A e^ {i(\omega t - \phi)} \qquad (4)$

Where $\phi$is the phase of the wave. The value of $\phi$ can be found by the relation between the phase difference and path difference of a plane progressive wave.

$\phi =\frac {2\pi}{\lambda}\cdot x $

$\phi = k\cdot x$

Now put the value of $\phi$ from the above equation into equation $(4)$. So the wave function equation can be written as

$\varphi (x,t) =A e^ {i(\omega t - k \cdot x)} \qquad (5)$

Propagation of a wave along the x-axis

Let us consider a particle having mass $m$ that is in motion along the positive x-direction with momentum $p$ and total energy $E$. So the wave function equation $(5)$ in terms of momentum and total energy

$\psi(x,t)=Ae^{-i\omega (t-\frac{x}{v})} \qquad(6) $

$\psi(x,t )=Ae^{-i(\omega t-kx)}$

$\psi(x,t )=Ae^{i(kx-\omega t)} \qquad(7)$

According to Planck’s hypothesis-

$E=h\nu \qquad(8) $

$E=\frac{h}{2 \pi }\cdot 2 \pi \nu$

$E=\hbar.\omega$

$\omega=\frac{E}{\hbar } \qquad(9)$

According to de Broglie hypothesis-

$\lambda= \frac{h}{p}$

$p =\frac{h}{\lambda }$

$p =\frac{h}{2 \pi }\cdot \frac{2 \pi}{\lambda}$

$p=\hbar\cdot k$

$k=\frac{p}{\hbar}\qquad(10)$

Now put the value of $\omega$ and $k$ from equation $(9)$ and equation $(10)$in equation$(7)$

$\psi (x,t)=Ae^{ i(\frac{p}{\hbar }x-\frac{E}{\hbar }t)}$

$\psi (x,t )=Ae^{\frac{i}{\hbar}(px-Et)}$

The equation for the three-dimensional $(3D)$ wave function of a free particle:

$\psi (\overrightarrow{r},t)=Ae^{\frac{i}{\hbar}(\overrightarrow{p}x-Et)}$

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The electric potential energy of a system of Charges

The Potential Energy of a system of two-point like charges→

When the system of two charged particles is configured, in which one charge is at rest of position and another is brought from infinity to near the first charge then the work done acquire by this charged particle is stored in the form of electric potential energy between these charges.

Derivation→

Let us consider, If two charge $q_{1}$ and $q_{2}$ in which one charge $q_{1}$ is at the rest of the position at point $P_{1}$ and another charge $q_{2}$ is brought from infinity to a point $P_{2}$ to configure the system then the electric potential at point $P_{2}$ due to charge particle $q_{1}$ →

$V=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}}\frac{q_{1}}{r}$

Where $r$ is the distance between the point $P_{1}$ and Point $P_{2}$

Here, Charge $q_{2}$ is moved in from infinity to point $P_{2}$ then the work required is →

$W=V q_{2}$

$W= \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}}\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r}$

Since the electric potential at infinity is zero the work- done will also be zero. So total work-done from infinity to a point $P$ will be stored in the form of electric potential energy.

$U=W$

$ U= \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}}\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r}$

The electric potential energy of a system of three-point-like charges→

To obtain the potential energy of a system of three charges. First, Obtain the work done between any two charges and then obtain the different work done for both those charges from the third charge, and then the total work done will be equal to electric potential energy.

Let us consider a system is made up of three charges $q_{1}$, $q_{2}$ and $q_{3}$ which are placed at point $P_{1}$,$P_{2}$ and $P_{3}$. Now the work done between two charges $q_{1}$ and $q_{2}$ is

$W_{1}=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}}\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r_{12}}$

Now, the charge $q_{3}$ is brought from infinity to the point $P_{3}$. Work has to be done against the forces exerted by $q_{1}$ and $q_{2}$ Therefore, The work done between charges of $q_{2}$ and $q_{3}$

$W_{2}=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \frac{q_{2}q_{3}}{r_{23}}$

Now, The work done between charges $q_{1}$ and $q_{3}$

$ W_{3}=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \frac{q_{1}q_{3}}{r_{13}}$

The total work done to make a system of three charges:

$ W=W_{1}+W_{2}++W_{3}$

Now substitute the value of $W_{1}$, $W_{2}$and $W_{2}$ in above equation i.e.

$ W=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \left[\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r_{12}}+\frac{q_{1}q_{3}}{r_{13}}+\frac{q_{2}q_{3}}{r_{23}}\right]$

This work is stored in the form of electric potential energy in the system.

$U=W$

$ U=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \left[\frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r_{12}}+ \frac{q_{1}q_{3}}{r_{13}}+\frac{q_{2}q_{3}}{r_{23}}\right]$

Similarly, the Potential energy of a system of N point system i.e.

$ U=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \sum_{i=1}^{N}\sum_{j=1}^{N}\frac{q_{i}q_{j}}{r_{ij}}$

Here $i\neq j$

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