Objectives and Homework for September 3, 2004.
[1] Be able to discuss a few of the experimental verifications of Special Relativity.
[2] Be able to construct and interpret spacetime diagrams.
[3] Understand how the axes on a spacetime diagram are related for different inertial observers.
[4] Understand the terms "world line", "past light cone", and "future light cone".
[5] Understand the term "causality", and understand what it means for two events to be "causally connected".
[6] Know what is meant by the invariant interval between two events, and realize that it is special because it is preserved by all Lorentz transformations.
[7] Understand what is meant by the terms "lightlike", "spacelike", and "timelike" when applied to spacetime intervals.
Homework due Tuesday, September 7, 2004 [nothing new here].
[1] Read Sections 2.5 - 2.8 in Thornton and Rex.
[2] Do Problems 20, 30, 35, 37, 41, 44, & 57 (pp. 76-77) at the end of Chapter 2 in Thornton and Rex.