1 Galilean relativity

Science aims to understand and describe "objective reality" but depends on observa-
tions, experiments, and reasoning carried out by individual scientists which necessarily
contain subjective elements. It is through the process of individual scientists compar-
ing notes and finding points of common agreement that we settle what constitutes
physical or objective reality. (Do my calculations agree with yours? Can I reproduce
your experiment?)
The principle of objectivity is a basic axiom of modern science. Galileo applied it to
the problem of motion when he formulated his principle of relativity which can be
stated as follows:

Two observers moving uniformly relative to one another must formulate

the laws of nature in exactly the same way. In particular, no observer
can distinguish between absolute rest and absolute motion by appealing
to any law of nature; hence, there is no such thing as absolute motion,
but only motion in relation to an observer.

Galileo might have illustrated his principle in terms of a game of billiards played below
deck on a ship (travelling at constant velocity) versus a similar game played on land.
Today we can compare the dynamics of an aircraft taking off from an aircraft carrier
with one taking off from a land based runway. The principle can be understood in
terms of the following two statements:

(a) Any physical law is amenable to a consistent formulation between all observers.
(b) Any relation which can be formulated consistently between all observers is a
physical law.

We shall see in a later section how scientists at the end of the 19th century were
tempted to ignore Galileo’s principle in order to resolve a perplexing issue related
to the propagation of light. But this did not help and when Einstein eventually
solved the problem, he did so by reinstating the principle of relativity. This resulted
in Einstein’s special theory of relativity (1905) to be distinguished from a more
sweeping generalization ten years later.
To formulate the relationship between the coordinates of an arbitrary event as seen by
two different observers A and B that Galileo’s principle entails, let the two observers
pass each other at which time each sets his clock to zero. Let A choose his spatial
coordinates (x, y, z) such that he sees B move along the z-axis. Then B can choose
coordinates (x 0, y 0, z 0) such that A moves along the z 0-axis. Taking O as the event
at which the two observers pass each other, we can assume t 0 = t, x 0 = x and

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y 0 = y. In other words, clocks remain synchronized regardless of their relative
motion (a classical assumption) and the two spatial coordinate systems coincide
at t = t 0 = 0. An arbitrary event E has coordinates (t, x, y, z) relative to A and
coordinates (t 0, x 0, y 0, z 0) relative to B where t 0 = t, x 0 = x and y 0 = y. Since the two
observers are in uniform relative motion, we have z = z 0 + vt where v is the constant
velocity of B relative to A. The equations of Galilean relativity are thus

t = t0 and z = z 0 + vt 0. (1)

From these, the other non-trivial equation z 0 = z − vt follows immediately.

z0

z1

E
z0 z10

t10
t0
O z0 = 0
B y0 t1 z=
observer B z 0= 0
−vt 0
x0 t

z
z vt

E
z1 t0
0
z = vt
0
A y z10 z=
t0 1
x t
O t1 z=0

observer A

The diagram on the left shows the spatial coordinate systems of the two observers
A and B and the relationship between them. On the right are the 2D spacetime
diagrams from the viewpoints of A and B. The following points are to be noted:

(a) For a given event, z 0 , z in general because each observer measures distances

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 relative to himself. The difference z − z 0 = vt = vt 0 is the distance between the
two observers at the moment when z and z 0 are measured.
(b) A spacetime diagram includes a time axis in addition to the spatial axes. The
t-axis does not represent a direction in space and need not be at right angles
(on paper) to the spatial axes.
(c) A time axis is typically the worldline of an observer, either stationary or in
relative uniform motion. A right angle between the t-axis and the z-axis means
that the observer is stationary. In the lower of the two spacetime diagrams
shown above, the horizontal t-axis is the the worldline of observer A. The
inclined t 0-axis is the worldline of B and is given by z = vt in A’s coordinate
system. Thus, if the angle between the z-axis and a given time axis is 90° − θ
then the respective observer has velocity v = tan θ with respect to the space
coordinate.

(d) Since t = t 0 in accordance with the classical understanding of time, the co-
ordinate t 0 is algebraically redundant as are x 0 and y 0. However we can see
above that the t 0-axis is distinct from the t-axis when both are shown in the
same spacetime diagram.

We have avoided the notion that one observer is stationary and the other is moving
or that one or the other of the spacetime diagram is really correct. To do so would
negate the principle of relativity. From A’s point of view, B is moving and vice versa.
The two diagrams are equally valid descriptions of reality. By comparing them, we
can discover which of their elements do reflect physical reality and which do not.
Thus, the time interval between two events is real because both observers report the
same value. On the other hand, the spatial distance between two events is not an
objective reality, see exercise 1.1.
The relationship between the coordinates of observer A and the primed coordinates
of B is known as the Galilean transform. The relation (1) captures the essence
of this transform whose generalizations are most easily expressed as transformation
matrices. Indeed (1) can be written as
    0 
t 1 0 t
= . (2)
z v 1 z0

Exercise 1.2 asks the reader to deduce the Galilean transform

t 1 0 0 0 t0
ª© 0 ª
­ x ® ­ vx 1 0 0 ®­ x ®
© ª ©
®=­ (3)
­ y ® ­ vy 0 1 0 ® ­ y0 ®
­ ®­ ®
0
« z ¬ « vz 0 0 1 ¬« z ¬

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for the situation where the respective axes are parallel and the origins coincide at
t = 0 as above, but B now has an arbitrary velocity v = (vx , vy , vz ) relative to A.
To get the inverse transform of (2) or (3) from unprimed into primed coordinates,
we simply replace v by −v, see exercise 1.3.

Exercises

Exercise 1.1. Consider two observers A and B in uniform relative motion as described
above. Let arbitrary events E1 and E2 have coordinates (ti , z i ) in the frame of A and
(ti0, z i0) in the frame of B. Show that

z20 − z10 = z2 − z1 + v(t1 − t2 ).

Exercise 1.2. Deduce the transformation matrix in (3).

Exercise 1.3. Let Sv denote the 2 × 2 transform matrix in (2). This gives the
transformation (t 0, x 0) 7→ (t, x) from primed into unprimed coordinates. Show that
the inverse transform (t, z) 7→ (t 0, z 0) is given by S−v = Sv−1 . Do the same for (3)
where v is now a vector.