special relativity

2 definitions found

special relativity - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  relativity \rel`a*tiv"i*ty\ (-t?v"?-t?), n.
     1. The state of being relative; as, the relativity of a
        subject. --Coleridge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One of two theories (also called theory of relativity)
        proposed by Albert Einstein, the special theory of  relativity
        , or the general theory of relativity. The
        special theory of relativity or special relativity is
        based on the proposition that the speed of light is a
        constant no matter how observed, and is independent of the
        motion of the observer. From this follows several
        principles, such as the increase of mass with velocity
        (which has been confirmed: see relativistic mass  equation
        ) and the impossibility of acceleration to a
        speed greater than that of light; the equivalence of mass
        and energy, expressed by the famous equation E = mc^2;
        and time dilation, which is the apparent slowing of a
        clock in a system, as observed by an observer in a system
        moving relative to the clock. The general theory of  relativity
         is based on the proposition that there is no
        physical difference between gravitational force and the
        force produced by acceleration. From this follow several
        results, of which the bending of light rays in a
        gravitational field and the equivalence of the inertial
        and gravitational masses have been verified. The possible
        existence of black holes (believed by many astronomers
        to have been adequately proven) is another consequence of
        the theory.
        [PJC]

special relativity - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  special relativity
      n 1: a physical theory of relativity based on the assumption
           that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant and the
           assumption that the laws of physics are invariant in all
           inertial systems [syn: special relativity, special theory of relativity
           , special relativity theory,
           Einstein's special theory of relativity]