Today marks a new chapter in my inquiries into special relativity as I think I've reached the limits of what I can learn by just consulting writings on that theory itself and on classical electromagnetism.
- the constancy of the one-way speed of light is the result of a clock adjustment procedure (Newton's or, equivalently, Einstein's) which is not a synchronization procedure in every inertial frame of reference;
- some authors have drawn spectacular but misguided conclusions on causality and simultaneous existence on the basis of the erroneous belief that this clock adjustment procedure is a synchronization procedure in every such frame of reference;
- length contraction and time dilation by the relativistic factors in a frame of reference Σ in which light propagates in symmetrical conditions in all directions and clocks have been Einstein-adjusted (or Newton-adjusted) is sufficient to derive all of special relativity (including the constancy of the two-way speed of light in all inertial frames of reference);
- time dilation by the relativistic factor in such a frame (at least as measured by light clocks) is a consequence of length contraction by the relativistic factor combined with the no-overtaking rule for electromagnetic signals.
All this has left me with an unresolved question: is there a model of electricity in which the no-overtaking rule for electromagnetic signals and (electric) length contraction by the relativistic factor in Σ can be explained simply and plausibly?
I feel I've made a promising start with my sphere model of electricity, which I have applied to two charges moving at one and the same constant velocity through Σ. But a suitably extended version of that model should also be able to explain the electric interactions between charges moving at different constant velocities through Σ. It should be able to do so without using the concept of magnetism and solely in terms of time and space coordinates in Σ as these coordinates, together with the size of the charges, provide a complete description of the situation.
Offline I've explored a number of avenues to extend the sphere model, which all revolve around the notion of a continuous exchange of information between two moving charges. Some of those avenues look promising. But I feel that, if I want to make further progress, I need to find out a bit more about how the exchange of information between moving charges is treated in the physics literature.
I will make a start by working through a textbook on quantum mechanics followed by another one on quantum electrodynamics. My choice of book for quantum mechanics is The Physics of Quantum Mechanics by James Binney and David Skinner. I intend to work through it methodically, page by page, chapter by chapter, and exercise by exercise. This will take some time. I'll keep you updated on my progress.
