@article{ijp20241245,
author={Rybicki, Maciej},
title={Why and How Special Relativity Fails in the Second Spatial Dimension? An Introduction to the Preferred Frame Theory},
journal={International Journal of Physics},
volume={12},
number={4},
pages={175--195},
year={2024},
url={https://pubs.sciepub.com/ijp/12/4/5},
issn={2333-4576},
abstract={It is demonstrated by means of a thought experiment that the special theory of relativity (STR) leads to contradiction when applied to a spacetime with more than one spatial dimension. The underlying cause of inconsistency proves to be the symmetry of relativistic effects, in particular the symmetry of Lorentz contraction due to the relativity of simultaneity. In this context, the preferred frame theory (PFT) is proposed and discussed. PFT bases on the assumptions different from the two postulates of STR (principle of relativity and constancy of the velocity of light), relating instead to the ideas originated and developed mainly by FitzGerald, Lorentz, Larmor, Voigt and Poincar¨¦, before the advent of Einstein¡¯s theory. However, contrary to the belief shared by the mentioned scholars, these ideas do not comply with the Lorentz transformation, but with the more than half a century later Tangherlini transformation, connecting time dilation and length contraction with the inconstant speed of light and the absolute simultaneity. Despite the fundamental differences, PFT and STR prove to be largely equivalent with each other as to the observational predictions; a significant albeit hardly detectable (on Earth) exception concerns energy. Unlike in the case of STR, in PFT the magnitude of the ratio between particular energies remains constant in all inertial frames (although specific values of energy vary from frame to frame), being thus an invariant of the Tangherlini transformation. This property makes PFT a Lorentz violating theory in a clearly defined way restricted to energy, which opens new perspectives in searching for an effective theory of quantum gravity.},
doi={10.12691/ijp-12-4-5}
publisher={Science and Education Publishing}
}