What is Special Relativity?

In this meeting of the Portland Physics Society, we will dive into Special Relativity!

This may be my favorite topic in all of physics. Einstein published this theory in 1905, but it was so radical that it took decades for the establishment to realize its significance. And yet, it's a relatively (no pun intended) simple theory, one that can be explained to any curious mind.

For anyone looking to bone up on SR beforehand, I can highly recommend the book "Relativity Visualized" by Lewis Carroll Epstein. Or check out Mahesh's videos on the FloatHeadPhysics YouTube channel.

We'll address:
- The (constant speed of) Light Postulate
- Time dilation / length contraction
- Proper Time vs Coordinate Time
- The Twin Paradox
- The Ladder (Barn-pole) Paradox
- Why E=mc^2
- How Special Relativity is connected to General Relativity

We'll see you there! The 4-dimensional spacetime coordinate of the event is listed above ;)