Thomas rotation and Thomas precession

Exact and simple calculation of Thomas rotation and Thomas precessions along a circular world line is presented in an absolute (coordinate-free) formulation of special relativity. Besides the simplicity of calculations the absolute treatment of spacetime allows us to gain a deeper insight into the phenomena of Thomas rotation and Thomas precession.Comment: 20 pages, to appear in Int. J. Theo. Phy

On the relation of Thomas rotation and angular velocity of reference frames

In the extensive literature dealing with the relativistic phenomenon of Thomas rotation several methods have been developed for calculating the Thomas rotation angle of a gyroscope along a circular world line. One of the most appealing concepts, introduced in \cite{rindler}, is to consider a rotating reference frame co-moving with the gyroscope, and relate the precession of the gyroscope to the angular velocity of the reference frame. A recent paper \cite{herrera}, however, applies this principle to three different co-moving rotating reference frames and arrives at three different Thomas rotation angles. The reason for this apparent paradox is that the principle of \cite{rindler} is used for a situation to which it does not apply. In this paper we rigorously examine the theoretical background and limitations of applicability of the principle of \cite{rindler}. Along the way we also establish some general properties of {\it rotating reference frames}, which may be of independent interest.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

On the origin of “longitudinal electrodynamic waves”

An explanation to the experimental results reported by Monstein and Wesley (Europhys. Lett., 59 (2002) 514), who claimed they had discovered “longitudinal electromagnetic waves”, are explained by means of the classical electromagnetic theory. It is proved that the cited authors detected classical TEM waves emitted by currents flowing in the Earth and launched by the ball antenna used in the experiment. A kind of plasma theory is used to describe the behavior of charges in the Earth and the predictions it yields appear to agree with the experiment much better than the original ones presented by Monstein and Wesley