Thread: What are the formula for relativity theory

What are the formula for applying Einstein's relativity in mathematics? Suppose, for example, that I wanted to resolve the twin paradox. Couldn't I do it by applying one of the formula of relativity theory and calculate how much time goes by for each twin, and therefore which one ages more? What would these formula be?

They are called Lorentz transformations, you can do a quick wiki search for the actual expressions. Just be careful using them, it is very easy to make mistakes/misinterpret them.

Originally Posted by gib65

What are the formula for applying Einstein's relativity in mathematics? Suppose, for example, that I wanted to resolve the twin paradox. Couldn't I do it by applying one of the formula of relativity theory and calculate how much time goes by for each twin, and therefore which one ages more? What would these formula be?

The central concept of Special Relativity is that of proper time, or, more formally, the invariant space-time interval. It is defined by the path integral



In the twin paradox, for example, you would calculate the proper time for each of the two twins, and find that the stay-at-home twin always has a "longer" proper time than the moving twin.

General Relativity, on the other hand, deals with gravitational fields; the key concept here is that space-time is the gravitational field - they are one and the same thing. In the presence of energy space-time becomes curved ( which is what we experience as gravity ), which is described by the Einstein field equations



Within such a space-time a ray of light will travel along geodesics, which are solutions of the geodesic equations