Rigid body motion in special relativity

TL;DR

This paper explores the behavior of rigid bodies under acceleration and collisions in special relativity, redefining classical concepts to fit relativistic physics and analyzing their motion and interactions.

Contribution

It provides a clear physical definition of relativistic rigid bodies and examines their acceleration and collision dynamics, which differ from classical notions.

Findings

Relativistic rigid bodies can be consistently defined with a modified concept.

The paper describes how rigid bodies accelerate to a given velocity.

Collision analysis of relativistic rigid bodies is presented.

Abstract

We study the acceleration and collisions of rigid bodies in special relativity. After a brief historical review, we give a physical definition of the term `rigid body' in relativistic straight line motion. We show that the definition of `rigid body' in relativity differs from the usual classical definition, so there is no difficulty in dealing with rigid bodies in relativistic motion. We then describe: 1. The motion of a rigid body undergoing constant acceleration to a given velocity. 2. The acceleration of a rigid body due to an applied impulse. 3. Collisions between rigid bodies.