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Book Review: Einstein's Relativity and Beyond - New Symmetry Approaches
Jong-Ping Hsu
World Scientific, Singapore / New Jersey / London / Hong Kong 2000
After Yuan Zhong Zhangs' book Special Relativity and its experimental
foundations another book on Special Relativity has been recently published
in World Scientific's Advanced Series on Theoretical Physical Science: Jong-Ping
Hsu's book Einstein's Relativity and Beyond - New Symmetry Approaches shows,
that the theoretical research concerning Einstein's theory of Special Relativity
is by far not finished. The book is based on papers by the author and his
collaborators in Physics Letters A, Nuovo Cimento B, and Physical Review A and D.
The first part of the book gives a brief review of the historical development of
Special Relativity by Voigt, Lorentz, Einstein, Poincaré and others. It is interesting
to note that Hsu attaches importance to the work of the almost unknown German
physicist Woldemar Voigt, who appears to be the first physicist to conceive the idea
of the universal speed of light and who was very close to suggest a conceptual
framework for Special Relativity, when he derived around 1887 a type of 4-dimensional
space-time transformation which was very similar to the Lorentz transformation.
In second part of the book the theory of Special Relativity is extended to a more
general theory with four-dimensional symmetry, which is based solely on the first
postulate of relativity. Hsu's main objective is to make clear that "any specific system
of time such as relativistic time and the universal speed of light are not physical entities
inherent in nature but human conventions imposed upon it. However, the four-dimensional
symmetry appears to be inherent and truly fundamental in nature" (Phys. Lett. A 196, 1994).
It might be a surprising fact for many physicists that relativistic time, or any particular
time system, is apparently not a necessary ingredient of a theory for it to to be consistent
with all experiments.
Hsu's theory is shown to have new implications for modern physics which differ from those
found in Special Relativity: A very interesting special case called `Common Relativity' is
considered which is based on the postulate of a a common time instead of a constant
speed of light within the four-dimensional symmetry framework. Common Relativity
leads to a simplification of the maze of many coupled Liouville equations presented
by Special Relativity and makes it possible to derive an invariant Planck distribution.
This implies the impossibility of detecting an `absolute' motion of the earth with
respect to the cosmic microwave background radiation.
The third part of the book is about generalized Lorentz transformations for
constant-linear-acceleration frames based on the principle of limiting four-
dimensional symmetry. Two types of transformations are considered: The
generalized Møller-Wu-Lee transformations (which are based on earlier, not
completely satisfactory approaches to derive transformations for non-inertial
frames by Møller, Wu and Lee) and the so-called Wu transformations for accelerated
frames. Implications for electrodynamics and quantum field theory are discussed,
like the dynamics of classical and quantum particles and the quantisation of scalar,
spinor and electromagnetic fields in non-inertial frames.
Experimental tests of these transformations are also proposed, e.g. a measurement
of the so-called Wu-Doppler effect which differs from the usual Doppler effect in
Special Relativity and could be measured by precision experiments.
One point which I would like to critisize is the fact, that there are special topics
covered, of which some are not related to the main topics mentioned above. One
of these topics is, for instance, a discussion of a De Sitter and Poincaré gauge-
invariant fermion Lagrangian. However, this does not imply that most of them will
not be interesting to the reader: For example, one part of a chapter is dedicated
to the the invariance group of the Maxwell equations, of which the relevance is
not yet clear, as Steven Weinberg commented in his well known book on quantum
field theory; furthermore, the question is considered whether the Michelson-Morley
experiment really implies a constant and isotropic speed of light; transformations
from inertial into rotational frames based on the principle of limiting four-dimensional
symmetry are derived in another chapter. At last, the appendix contains calculations
concerning Noether's theorem and quantum electrodynamics in linearly accelerated
frames. Other special topics, like a proposed experimental test for the twin paradox,
are also treated in the appendix.
Nowadays Special Relativity has become a cornerstone of all modern physical
theories which have been invented in the 20th century. Hsu's book shows many
new aspects of Einstein's theory which are not taught in lectures or by any other
books on this subject. Hsu's work shows once again that it is worthwhile not to
accept the principles of physical theories uncritically, especially those which have
been introduced by people who are regarded as authorities in a field of research.
His understanding and appreciation of the Special Theory of Relativity make, in my
opinion, the book worth reading for every physicist who is interested in Special
Relativity.
Andreas Ernst
Heidelberg, Germany
Jong-Ping Hsu
World Scientific, Singapore / New Jersey / London / Hong Kong 2000
After Yuan Zhong Zhangs' book Special Relativity and its experimental
foundations another book on Special Relativity has been recently published
in World Scientific's Advanced Series on Theoretical Physical Science: Jong-Ping
Hsu's book Einstein's Relativity and Beyond - New Symmetry Approaches shows,
that the theoretical research concerning Einstein's theory of Special Relativity
is by far not finished. The book is based on papers by the author and his
collaborators in Physics Letters A, Nuovo Cimento B, and Physical Review A and D.
The first part of the book gives a brief review of the historical development of
Special Relativity by Voigt, Lorentz, Einstein, Poincaré and others. It is interesting
to note that Hsu attaches importance to the work of the almost unknown German
physicist Woldemar Voigt, who appears to be the first physicist to conceive the idea
of the universal speed of light and who was very close to suggest a conceptual
framework for Special Relativity, when he derived around 1887 a type of 4-dimensional
space-time transformation which was very similar to the Lorentz transformation.
In second part of the book the theory of Special Relativity is extended to a more
general theory with four-dimensional symmetry, which is based solely on the first
postulate of relativity. Hsu's main objective is to make clear that "any specific system
of time such as relativistic time and the universal speed of light are not physical entities
inherent in nature but human conventions imposed upon it. However, the four-dimensional
symmetry appears to be inherent and truly fundamental in nature" (Phys. Lett. A 196, 1994).
It might be a surprising fact for many physicists that relativistic time, or any particular
time system, is apparently not a necessary ingredient of a theory for it to to be consistent
with all experiments.
Hsu's theory is shown to have new implications for modern physics which differ from those
found in Special Relativity: A very interesting special case called `Common Relativity' is
considered which is based on the postulate of a a common time instead of a constant
speed of light within the four-dimensional symmetry framework. Common Relativity
leads to a simplification of the maze of many coupled Liouville equations presented
by Special Relativity and makes it possible to derive an invariant Planck distribution.
This implies the impossibility of detecting an `absolute' motion of the earth with
respect to the cosmic microwave background radiation.
The third part of the book is about generalized Lorentz transformations for
constant-linear-acceleration frames based on the principle of limiting four-
dimensional symmetry. Two types of transformations are considered: The
generalized Møller-Wu-Lee transformations (which are based on earlier, not
completely satisfactory approaches to derive transformations for non-inertial
frames by Møller, Wu and Lee) and the so-called Wu transformations for accelerated
frames. Implications for electrodynamics and quantum field theory are discussed,
like the dynamics of classical and quantum particles and the quantisation of scalar,
spinor and electromagnetic fields in non-inertial frames.
Experimental tests of these transformations are also proposed, e.g. a measurement
of the so-called Wu-Doppler effect which differs from the usual Doppler effect in
Special Relativity and could be measured by precision experiments.
One point which I would like to critisize is the fact, that there are special topics
covered, of which some are not related to the main topics mentioned above. One
of these topics is, for instance, a discussion of a De Sitter and Poincaré gauge-
invariant fermion Lagrangian. However, this does not imply that most of them will
not be interesting to the reader: For example, one part of a chapter is dedicated
to the the invariance group of the Maxwell equations, of which the relevance is
not yet clear, as Steven Weinberg commented in his well known book on quantum
field theory; furthermore, the question is considered whether the Michelson-Morley
experiment really implies a constant and isotropic speed of light; transformations
from inertial into rotational frames based on the principle of limiting four-dimensional
symmetry are derived in another chapter. At last, the appendix contains calculations
concerning Noether's theorem and quantum electrodynamics in linearly accelerated
frames. Other special topics, like a proposed experimental test for the twin paradox,
are also treated in the appendix.
Nowadays Special Relativity has become a cornerstone of all modern physical
theories which have been invented in the 20th century. Hsu's book shows many
new aspects of Einstein's theory which are not taught in lectures or by any other
books on this subject. Hsu's work shows once again that it is worthwhile not to
accept the principles of physical theories uncritically, especially those which have
been introduced by people who are regarded as authorities in a field of research.
His understanding and appreciation of the Special Theory of Relativity make, in my
opinion, the book worth reading for every physicist who is interested in Special
Relativity.
Andreas Ernst
Heidelberg, Germany