The Central Role of the Relativistic Velocity Transformation in Modern Physics Theory

The Relativistic Velocity Transformation (RVT) is a very valuable tool for understanding the results of experiments. It was first used in 1907 by von Laue to explain the Fresnel-Fizeau light-damping phenomenon associated with the passage of light through a tube filled with a non-dispersive liquid. It is also essential for the prediction of characteristics of modern-day high-energy collision and decay processes. The purpose of the present work is to show that the RVT successes are in no way attributable to the Lorentz Transformation (LT), which is the cornerstone of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (SR) published in 1905. It is shown instead that the space-time transformation (VT) introduced in 1887 by Voigt can be used directly to derive the RVT. This is an important observation since it easily proven the LT is not internally consistent and therefore is not a viable component of relativity theory. There are nonetheless experiments which cannot be understood on the basis of the RVT, but rather require the use of the classical (Galilean) velocity transformation (GVT). It is pointed out the ranges of applicability for the GVT and RVT are mutually exclusive, and that it is a straightforward manner to distinguish between them on the basis of the specific characteristics of the experiments being carried out. The “distance rephrasing procedure” is introduced to prove that the GVT can be used successfully in examples involving light pulses, contrary to what is claimed in SR. Finally, the Law of Causality is shown to lead to a strict proportionality between the timing results of two observers in relative motion to one another. This relationship is referred to as “Newtonian Simultaneity” since it requires that events which are simultaneous for one observer will also be simultaneous for the other, unlike the prediction of remote non-simultaneity (RNS) which follows from the LT. The Newton-Voigt space-time transformation (NVT) employs the Newtonian Simultaneity proportional relationship explicitly and is also consistent with Galileo’s Relativity Principle (RP). It therefore serves as a viable replacement for the LT. Newtonian Simultaneity is also a key element of the Uniform Scaling Method discussed in previous work.