Special Relativity with a Preferred Frame and the Relativity Principle

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to develop a counterpart of the special relativity theory that is consistent with the existence of a preferred frame but, like the standard relativity theory, is based on the relativity principle and the universality of the (two-way) speed of light. The synthesis of such seemingly incompatible concepts as the existence of preferred frame and the relativity principle is possible at the expense of the freedom in assigning the one-way speeds of light that exists in special relativity. In the framework developed, a degree of anisotropy of the one-way speed acquires meaning of a characteristic of the really existing anisotropy caused by motion of an inertial frame relative to the preferred frame. The anisotropic special relativity kinematics is developed based on the symmetry principles: 1) Space-time transformations between inertial frames leave the equation of anisotropic light propagation invariant and 2) a set of the transformations possesses a group structure. The Lie group theory apparatus is applied to define groups of transformations between inertial frames. Applying the transformations to the problem of calculating the CMB temperature distribution yields a relation in which the angular dependence coincides with that obtained on the basis of the standard relativity theory but the mean temperature is corrected by the terms second order in the observer velocity.