What is Relativistic: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Relativistic quantum chemistry combines relativistic mechanics with quantum chemistry to calculate elemental properties and structure, especially for the heavier elements of the periodic table. A prominent example is the explanation of the color of gold: due to relativistic effects, it is not silvery like most other metals.The term relativistic effects was developed in light of the history of quantum mechanics. Initially quantum mechanics was developed without considering the theory of relativity. Relativistic effects are those discrepancies between values calculated by models that consider relativity and those that do not. Relativistic effects are important for the heavier elements with high atomic numbers. In the most common layout of the periodic table, these elements are shown in the lower area. Examples are the lanthanides and actinides.Relativistic effects in chemistry can be considered to be perturbations, or small corrections, to the non-relativistic theory of chemistry, which is developed from the solutions of the Schrödinger equation. These corrections affect the electrons differently depending on the electron speed compared to the speed of light. Relativistic effects are more prominent in heavy elements because only in these elements do electrons attain sufficient speeds for the elements to have properties that differ from what non-relativistic chemistry predicts.

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  1. W

    Classic and relativistic 3-velocity

    I'm trying to understand how the geometry of Minkowski space is related to physical observations, in particular, measurements of the velocity of an object. In the attempt below, I got stuck at the meaning of the relativistic 3-velocity. Can anyone get me back on track?
  2. A

    Relativistic Space Matter Flows over near light speed ships

    Does anyone know if any work, no matter how speculative, has been done on the following: Assume a ship (or any vessel) travels through space with a Gamma of 10-100. As the ship travels through the interstellar medium, there is a constant barrage of nuclear explosions over the tip of the jet...
  3. F

    E-P invariant on relativistic mecahnics problem

    Homework Statement A particle of mass m moving at speed \frac{3}{5}c collides with an identical particle at rest, and forms a new particle of mass M which moves off at speed v. Find v.Homework Equations E-P invariant: E_1^2-p_1c^2=E_2^2-p_2^2c^2=\mathrm{const.} Momentum...
  4. J

    Relativistic motion in a particle accelerator: Rate of Energy Loss

    Homework Statement (a) Consider a 10-Mev proton in a cyclotron of radius .5m. Use the formula (F1) to calculate the rate of energy loss in eV/s due to radiation. (b) Suppose that we tried to produce electrons with the same kinetic energy in a circular machine of the same radius. In this case...
  5. V

    A problem on time taken by relativistic particles

    Homework Statement a) What is the speed of proton that has relativistic γ factor of 10^10? Write as (1-ε)c b) A proton with γ=10^10 is chased by a photon across a galaxy. Observer A at one end of the galaxy (xA=0) sees the proton at t1=0 and the photon at t2 = 1.33 x 10^-8 s. According to...
  6. N

    Does Relativistic effect applies to light as well?

    A quick question..a traveller will observe length of his journey contracted if he is traveling in a straight line..thus when light travels, doesn't the distance it travels get contracted?..and since light itself travels at c, ideally the contraction factor should be zero, so light should reach...
  7. B

    Relativistic electric field derivation

    Homework Statement I am supposed to derive this equation: tan(phi) = γtan(θ) by performing an integration to find the flux of E through each of 2 spherical caps; the flux through each of these caps should be equal. The first cap spans the angle θ; the element of surface area may be taken as...
  8. A

    Would a relativistic ship really need much shielding?

    Hi all, It doesn't seem that a relativistic ship traveling in deep space would need much shielding due to particles at rest in the space frame, appearing relativisitc now in the ship's frame. Here's the calculation I did: Let's imagine a ship the size of a space shuttle traveling with γ of...
  9. Y

    Difficulty with relativistic units, eV/c^2

    I'm having some difficulty in working with units of mass at the quantum level. This difficulty most clearly manifests itself when I'm doing a Compton scattering problem. Recall that Compton scattering is given by \Delta \lambda =\frac{h}{m_{e}c}(1-cos(\theta )) and that the rest mass of an...
  10. D

    Show that the total relativistic energy of a proton

    Homework Statement The mass of a proton when at rest is m. According to an observer using the detector frame, the speed of the anticlockwise moving bunch, A, is such that va^2/c^2=24/25 Show that the total relativistic energy of a proton in bunch A, as observed in the detector frame, is...
  11. C

    Magnetism as a relativistic effect

    So my physics teacher has been trying to explain magnetic forces in terms of electric forces and relativity but I'm still confused. If there is a wire carrying a current and I'm an electron traveling next to the wire at the same speed the electrons in the wire are traveling, the electrons in...
  12. E

    Relativistic interpretation question?

    Two individuals A and B are traveling through space at a velocity in the "x" direction at and are next to each other so they can synchronize their clocks. Since there is no other available reference they believe they are not moving. Both have a duplicate shape charge which as they are in the...
  13. K

    Darwin and relativistic kinetic energy correction for hydrogen

    Homework Statement Combine the Darwin correction with the relativistic kinetic energy correction for l=0 to show that the fine structure formula: \DeltaE_{fs}= - \frac{(E^{(0)2}_{n})}{2mc^{2}}[\frac{4n}{j + 1/2}-3] remains valid for l=0 Homework Equations From a previous problem...
  14. H

    Energy Conservation versus Quantum and Relativistic Effects

    A mathematical statement of energy conservation can be given using the continuity equation in terms of the total energy \frac{\partial}{\partial t}\iiint_V\epsilon dV+\iint_S \epsilon \mathbf{V\cdot dS}=0 where t is time, V is a velocity vector, V is the volume of the system, dS is a point...
  15. J

    How Does Relativistic Two-Way Momentum Appear to Different Observers?

    Say you have an observer that is not on planet Earth. He then tries to measure the momentum of an object traveling on the Earth itself. He notices that when the object travels in one direction it has an added velocity of the Earths rotation, then in the other direction the object loses...
  16. L

    Relativistic dynamics-collision problem

    I WOULD BE VERY THANKFUL IF ANYONE COULD PLEASE ME WITH THIS PROBLEM! :) Particle 1 with mass m1 encouters elastic collision with particle 2 which has mass m2 Assume that particle 2 is stationary before collision. And movement-direction of particle 1 after collision, is perpendicular to the...
  17. T

    Is Light's Mass Infinite at the Speed of Light?

    Hi, a while back i had ran into the equation for dynamic mass [M = m/√(1-(v^2/c^2))] and had immedietly taken an interest in it in that it seems to imply that for an object with mass moving at the speed of light its mass would become, virtually, infinite. Is this an erroneous assumption? If not...
  18. Y

    Deflection of light through a relativistic glass rod.

    Let us say we have a very long glass that has a uniform square cross section. Its long axis is aligned with the x axis. A beam of light is directed along the y-axis such that it is normal to the side of the glass rod's side surface. When the rod is stationary wrt to the observer we would expect...
  19. J

    Special Relativity - Relativistic Dynamics

    Homework Statement A.P. French 6.8 A thrust-beam space vehicle works bearing a sort of sail which feels the push of a strong steady laser light beam directed at it from Earth. If the sail is perfectly reflected, calculate the mass of light required to accelerate a vehicle of rest mass m_0 up to...
  20. S

    What Happens When a Spherical Square Well Approaches 2mc2?

    Homework Statement I'm dealing with a dirac particle in an attractive spherical square well. I've solved for the transcendental equation to find energy, found the normalized wave function, and now I'm trying to explain what happens when the well becomes very deep, when V0 ≥ 2mc2. If I plug...
  21. S

    Expansion of Hydrogen GS (Relativistic)

    Homework Statement I'm trying to verify equations 16 and 17 on the attached paper, but I'm just not getting the same values they are. I've used mathematica and it just isn't happening. For one thing, there should be a factor of 1/2 in front of equation 16, but I'm really not seeing how they...
  22. B

    Relativistic particles travelling at near light speed, past a detector

    Homework Statement Part a - A set of particles are traveling at a constant speed close to the speed of light, past a detector. From the detector's point of view, it takes a set period of time (t seconds) for the entire set of particles to pass by a set point on the detector. Write an...
  23. A

    Two layered discs rotating at relativistic angular velocities

    Hypothetically, if you had an object on top of a disc on Earth that was rotating clockwise incredibly quickly such that the object had a tangential velocity of almost c, and this disc sat on another disc rotating anticlockwise with the same angular velocity, would the object feel the effects of...
  24. C

    Relativistic rod moving in two directions.

    Homework Statement A rigid rod has rest length L0 and moves relative to a system S' for which it's coordinates is x'=0, y' = b-ut', z' = 0. In this reference frame the rod is at all times parallel with the x'-axis. a) A point (A) on the rod is measured to be a distance= a, away from x' = 0...
  25. G

    Relativistic kinetic energy and force.

    classically, an electron accelerating from rest in a uniform electric field will have a kinetic energy proportional to the distance 'd' from its point of origin. will this continue to hold even when the electron is moving at relativistic velocity? I understand that the formula for...
  26. jaketodd

    Is there a relativistic version of the work-energy theorem?

    The work-energy theorem is stated here on Wikipedia. On the same page it says "regardless of the choice of reference frame, the work energy theorem remains valid and the work done on the object is equal to the change in kinetic energy." I am wondering if there is a relativistic version of...
  27. jaketodd

    Calculating Relativistic Velocity from Work and Mass

    I am wondering how to determine relativistic velocity from a given amount of work done on a body starting from rest with a given rest mass. This is not homework. Thanks in advance, Jake
  28. L

    Difference between relativistic doppler effect and classical one?

    When I ask for differences I am not meaning mathematical ones since that it is obvious: We have a phenomenon p, p can be described by Galilean Relativity (GR) and by Einsten Relativity (ER). ER(p)!=GR(p) The math expression that describes this phenomenon is different. Then the doppler...
  29. H

    Status of relativistic 2-body problem

    I'd like to get back into theoretical physics as a retiree. I last worked on the relativistic 2-body problem over 25 years ago. I've been reading Trump and Schieve's text on classical relativistic dynamics and I'm wondering has the classical 2-body relativistic problem been solved. I realize...
  30. U

    Magnetism seems absolute despite being relativistic effect of electrostatics

    I know that magnetic force due to a current carrying wire on a test charge moving w.r.t the wire(along the wire), can be interpreted as the electrostatic force if we use the first order relativistic corrections for Time Dilation or Length contraction of the charges of the wire, in the frame of...
  31. R

    What is the relativistic equation for finding kinetic energy?

    Let's say, I wanted to find the kinetic energy of a ball traveling at 99% the speed of light, what is the equation used for that calculation? And also, do photons have kinetic energy? Thanks.
  32. H

    Relativistic Rocket: Find Δv in Earth Frame

    Homework Statement I a little lost on how to use the relativistic velocity addition formula to determine the increase in speed "v" over a short time interval in the Earths frame of reference, for a rocket having left Earth at rest and traveling through space accelerating at constant acc. of...
  33. K

    Relativistic effects on an electron

    Homework Statement An electron is accelerated through a potential of 10^9 Volts. What is the Energy, Kinetic Energy, and Momentum in the lab reference frame? Homework Equations (1/2)mv^2=eV=1.6E-10 J=1000 MeV The Attempt at a Solution Solving for the kinetic energy gives 1000...
  34. S

    Relativistic speeds going perpendicular

    Couldnt find anything from 15min of forum searching... If 2 objects are traveling along say, an x and y axis(or just 90 degrees apart really) at close to c, how do they interpret each others speeds? 0<theta<90 are easy enough. Couldnt find anything about perpendicular though. A Newtonian...
  35. K

    Relativistic Momentum problem

    Homework Statement Mass of particle = 5GeV/C^2 Momentum of particle = 5GeV/c Find total energy of particle and speed of particle. Homework Equations E=λmc^2 p=λmu λ=(√(1-(u/c)^2))^-1 The Attempt at a Solution When I try so solve for speed, I realize λ is a function of u, so...
  36. K

    Relativistic Beaming (shooting a laser at 90 degrees from your line of motion)

    Homework Statement A ship is traveling at a speed of .8c. When the ship is 90 degrees from the target, it shoots a laser downwards. What angle must it shoot the laser to hit the target? Homework Equations \mu_{x}=0 \mu_{y}=-c \mu_{x}'=\frac{mu_{x}-v}{1-\frac{v*mu_{x}}{c^{2}}}=-v...
  37. P

    Relativistic Spaceship moving past Earth

    Homework Statement A relativistic spaceship is moving "horizontally" past Earth at 99% speed of light (c), and the water in the ship's swimming pool rises at 5 m/s. What is the tilt of the water surface with respect to the horizontal, AS OBSERVED FROM EARTH?Homework Equations The Attempt at a...
  38. S

    Continuum hypothesis of fluid mechanics (& relativistic fluids)

    Continuum approximation of fluid mechanics (& relativistic fluids) I have a few 'foundational' questions on fluid mechanics which I haven't been able to find quick answers to, any help would be appreciated. At the start of any course on fluids, one is told of the continuum hypothesis...
  39. K

    Relativistic aberration and locally measured electric flux density

    Does relativistic aberration apply to electric fields and magnetic fields? If a spaceship accelerated to a relativistic speed with respect to an initial inertial frame, in a constant direction with respect to a uniform electric field, do the effects of aberration affect the magnitude of electric...
  40. K

    Relativistic corrections to E-fields of charges bounded inside a Gaussian surface

    If I have a spread of electrical charges contained inside a Gaussian surface, and if I cause those electrical charges to move at relativistic speeds, the electric fields of those charges should be subject to relativistic contraction. What happens then to electric flux that cuts through that...
  41. L

    Relativistic mass and work problem

    Homework Statement A body has rest mass of 10^5 Kg. Find how much work must be done on the body to give it a velocity such that the clocks on the body run at 1/10 of the rate of the lab clocks. compare the work energy with the rest energy of the body Homework Equations γ=1/√(1-(v/c)2)...
  42. H

    Relativistic Dynamics, Action at a Distance, & Field Theory

    PREAMBLE: I'm not asking you to do this for me, just point me to some CLEAR references. THE PROBLEM: I am trying to understand the differences between Action-at-a-distance (AAAD) and Field theory. I am trying to better understand relativistic dynamics and the relativistic 2-body problem...
  43. maverick_starstrider

    Relativistic angular momentum and cyclic coordinates

    I'm getting myself confused here. If my relativistic Lagrangian for a particle in a central potentai is L = \frac{-m_0 c^2}{\gamma} - V(r) should \frac{d L}{d \dot{\theta}} not give me the angular momentum (which is conserved)? Instead I get \frac{d L}{d \dot{\theta}} = -4 m...
  44. K

    Exploring Spin Angular Momentum in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

    By "spin" we sometimes refer to spin angular momentum, sometimes we refer to a specific representation of Lorentz group, in the following I'll refer to the former, otherwise I'll write "spinor representation" Say an spin up(z direction) electron at rest, state vector |m,+\rangle being an...
  45. A

    Relativistic Mass as described by Kenneth Krane in 'Modern Physics'

    Homework Statement Mr. Krane describes this scenario in a presentation of relativistic mass in his book Modern Physics John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1983 p. 36-37 According to one observer, two balls of equal mass, m1 and m2, are approaching each other at equal speed, v. The proper mass of...
  46. V

    Proof of relativistic energy/mass to grow to infinity for v approaching c?

    By SR, relativistic energy and mass are proportional to the Lorentz factor γ, therefore, grow to infinity for v\rightarrowc. This relationship for the relativistic mass has been confirmed by the Kaufmann experiment and its successors, via measuring the deflection of high velocity electrons by an...
  47. S

    Relativistic mass thought experiment/proof?

    Hey all, After reading some fairly elementary texts on special relativity, I understand length contraction and time dilation no problem, as it is well explained with examples of proofs, but I hate to say that relativistic mass is explained nowhere. I know this question has probably been asked...
  48. Z

    Speed of Pi Meson - Relativistic question

    After being created in a high-energy particle particle accelerator, a pi meson at rest has an average lifetime of 2.60 x 10^-8s. Travelling at a speed very close to the speed of light, a pi meson travels a distance of 120m before decaying. How fast is it moving? Answer: 0.998c Could...
  49. S

    Acceleration through PD, relativistic momentum

    When accelerating an electron through a PD of 10^3, that will give a momentum of 1 MeV/c right? Or is there something I'm not taking into account with relativity? Thanks :D
  50. N

    Mass of Higgs & Relativistic: Is it Comprised of Both?

    In another thread I asked the question if my mass is comprised of "Higgs Mass" and "Kinetic mass". Drakkith was nice enough to reply best he could, but wasn't certain. So yea, that's what I am wondering. Is my mass comprised of higgs and kinetic?
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