Talk:Theory of relativity

Semi-protected edit request on 8 June 2019
Please replace "Special relativity applies to elementary particles and their interactions, describing all their physical phenomena except gravity." with, "Special Relativity applies to all physical phenomena in an unaccelerated reference frame in the absence of gravity."

Although, clarified later in the article, the introductory phrase for "special relativity" says "Special relativity applies to elementary particles and their interactions, describing all their physical phenomena except gravity." It seems to me, and I'll try to find references, that the description is more fitting to quantum mechanics. While it is ultimately true, it belies the notion that special relativity applies to macroscopic phenomena as well. Special relativity was an attempt to answer the results of the Michelson-Morley experiment that attempted to measure how the speed of light is affected by the motion of the earth.

Special relativity does not address the specifics of elementary particle interactions at all. It is a general framework that provides a relationship between space, time, motion and simultaneity. Four current (talk) 18:44, 8 June 2019 (UTC)


 * I replaced the sentence in question with a slightly revised version of your sentence. Thanks for the suggestion! Prokaryotic Caspase Homolog (talk) 19:44, 8 June 2019 (UTC)


 * I have removed the accelerated reference frames restriction, since as we know, special relativity has no problem with them. Calculations can get hard, but SR can do it. And of course, physical phenomena happen entirely independently of frames. See for instance Extract of page 442: "... and thus to disprove the erroneous statements on inapplicability of the special theory of relativity to accelerated reference frames." - DVdm (talk) 20:32, 8 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Calculations can get very hard indeed! I can cite a number of peer-reviewed papers that totally disagree with each other in the analysis of certain aspects of rotating reference frames, each paper stating that a previous analysis was incorrect. Technically, the statement as I worded it did not state that special relativity didn't apply to accelerating reference frames; it merely did not make the positive statement that it could. A quibble, I suppose. Your correction is correct. Prokaryotic Caspase Homolog (talk) 15:35, 9 June 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 May 2020
In the introduction line 5, change "Isaac Newton" to "Galileo Galilei"

It is wrong that Newton invented relativity! It is Galileo Galilei who invented it (And maybe that why we speak about: galilean symmetry, galilean transformation, and galilean relativity/invariance !)

!!! one source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_invariance

Reference: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo) 1632

Then it is really odd to have 3 citations for a given fact from a single author! Which appears to be wrong!

Then if speaking of relativity: It will be good to add a section about Galielean relativity as the statement that physic is the same in any inertial frame is from Galileo and not Einstein, Einstein added the fact the the light has constant speed... But that will be another ticket... 2A02:1205:C6BB:8E50:440C:3BBF:CD51:B4CC (talk) 09:11, 25 May 2020 (UTC)


 * ❌. Galilean relativity and invariance can be attributed to Galilei alright, but, as you can verify in its article, classical mechanics aka the theory of mechanics was clearly (and "well-sourcedly") created primarily by Isaac Newton. - DVdm (talk) 11:23, 25 May 2020 (UTC)

'Relativity introduced concepts including 4-Dimensional Spacetime'
MODERATOR The following sentence in the introduction needs to be tweaked to, "It introduced concepts including 4-dimensional spacetime." 73.84.223.105 (talk) 16:47, 16 February 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅: thanks for the suggestion, but that would be problematic. The wikilink 4-dimensional points to a disambiguation page, and when properly resolved, it would necessarily point to spacetime again. In that article the 4-dimensionality is adequately covered. I have done it this way: "It introduced concepts including 4-dimensional spacetime." - DVdm (talk) 17:23, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Asymptotic symmetries
What is an asymptotic symmetry? What is spacetime symmetry group? I see this section as more technical than the rest of the article. I believe a brief explanation of the concepts and links to further explanations would make it better understandable for the majority of the less knowledgeable people in the subject like me.

Physicist — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brunoff (talk • contribs) 23:42, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: 4A Wikipedia Assignment
— Assignment last updated by Kmijares (talk) 22:40, 15 November 2023 (UTC)