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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Dear ladies and gentlemen,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">I must apologise in advance if I appear a little cranky this morning. I have been up since 2 am (it is now 7.30 am) I have been in work every day last week, including
Saturday and Sunday – certainly more than double my “contracted” hours – actually, getting close to three times them (four times is not possible- though my “workload model” suggest I am only a third loaded and my managers are trying to give me even more to
do). <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am pissed off, have not managed to eat properly and feel physically a bit ill.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">The intense work has had the advantage that I have caught up with most, though not all, of my University work. I feel as though I have never left the damn place, and
am already tired – though 12 hours looms ahead. The coming week promises – if anything to be even worse … I will try not to take it out on you .. but this will not be circumspect …</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">I have the feeling that we are, collectively, not really getting into the discussion which needs to be had to make proper progress. This is not for lack of trying
on my part – but I seem to be getting no reaction at all to the new bits – and yet lots of requests for clarification on parts of physics as it is already is.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Ladies and gentlemen – I just cannot do this. I cannot provide a tutor service for things that are simply well explained in text books. Let me try a little experiment
to clarify what I mean.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">For example, there has been a lot of discussion about Einstien’s Special relativity. There has been lots of talk about rulers and clocks, not with the maths so much
as in sort of allegorical terms. Everyone seems to think they know what they are talking about – but I do not get the impression that many of us really “get it” at all. Sorry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">This is not to be rude to you all. I agree with Al that most of the people writing TEXT books with the word “relativity” in the title do not “get” relativity much
beyond rulers, clocks and synchronising imaginary “observers”. This is probably because that is how they “learned” it themselves. Wiki is at the same (low) level. If the writers of the usual sources are not beyond this – what hope does a graduate of those
teachers in universities have of getting there? I should say - it is not my goal or role to sort all this out – though that is where my effort seems to have been going.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>See how Christian, for one, has been savaged by the pack for merely daring to suggest some theory and maths appalls me.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">The lack of (quite basisc) understanding of many workers in the field leads to many smart workers– some called Alice and/or Bob, to be completely wasting their time.
As Al says, one can explain most of this simply with classical field theory and a proper understanding of relativity (which is automatically in classical field theory – so there you go).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Let me give you a specific example, though, from relativity as explained in the slightly more advanced big books – and I would like you all to be honest with yourself
and share it with the group if you were ignorant of the simple fact I am about to state before I brought it up. There is no shame in this: it is how relativity is taught in my “university” for example – so it is probably not your fault.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">It is common knowledge (whether “true” in the sense that Al, Martin and I have been talking about it or not), that rulers “shrink” in the direction of the Lorentz
transformation and clocks “go slow”. I have been astonished that there has even been discussion about this within this group – but there you go. I do not want to talk about this further here, there has been enough said, but instead take the whole discussion
a little bit further</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Now I already know several in the group will know what I am about to say to be true (Martin and<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Stephen). I suspect others may also have got it (John D, Adam K, Nick – but be honest guys). I am pretty sure that this will be news to most of you – though most delighted if I am wrong!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Although lengths transform ONLY along the velocity directions, fields transform (relativistically) ONLY perpendicular to it. The question is simple: did you “know”
that?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">To be clear in what I am saying: if the velocity is in the z direction. Lengths transform relativistically in z and not in x and y. Fields transform relativistically
in Ex, Ey, Bx, and By AND<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>PRECISELY NOT in Bz and Ez.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Once again: did you know that before I told you? Do you agree?<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:
Times" lang="EN-US">Regards, John W.</span></p>
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