The Many Flaws of the Lorentz Transformation

Abstract

The Lorentz transformation (LT) is one of the most revered set of relationships in modern physics. Overlooked in this broad assessment are a number of clear inconsistencies in its predictions, however, as will be discussed herein. For example, it makes three predictions which are not consistent with one another: Lorentz-FitzGerald length contraction (FLC), time dilation (TD) and light-speed equality for observers in relative motion to one another. Einstein’s light-speed postulate (LSP) is shown to be unviable by considering a case in which a light source passes by a stationary observer at the same time that it emits a light pulse in the same direction. It is found that, in contradiction to the LSP, that the classical velocity (Galilean) transformation (GVT) is applicable when two observers in relative motion deduce the speed of a light wave from their different perspectives. The LT also stands in violation of the Law of Causality because it fails to recognize that inertial clocks can never change their rate spontaneously; thus its two clocks must always measure elapsed times in the same ratio (Q), contrary to the LT prediction of space-time mixing. The Newton-Voigt transformation (NVT) is consistent with the Law of Causality because it assumes space and time do not mix. It is nonetheless also consistent with the relativistic velocity transformation (RVT) and also with Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence relation E=mc2. The ratio Q of clock rates for two inertial rest frames S and S’ is required input for the NVT. Experimental data obey the Universal Time-dilation Law (UTDL) which states that the measured time Δt obtained by an inertial clock for a given event is inversely proportional to γ(v)= (1-v2c-2)-0.5, where v is the speed of the clock relative to a specific rest frame referred to as the objective rest frame ORS. The Uniform Scaling method employs Q as a conversion factor between the units of time in the two rest frames. It is found that the conversion factors