Ehrenfest Paradox: A Careful Examination

Abstract

The Ehrenfest paradox for a rotating ring is examined and a kinematic resolution, within the framework of the special theory of relativity, is presented. Two different ways by which a ring can be brought from rest to rotational motion, whether by keeping the rest lengths of the blocks constituting the ring constant or by keeping their lengths in the inertial frame constant, are explored and their effect on the length of the material ring in the inertial as well as the co-rotating frame is checked. It is found that the ring tears at a point in the former case and remains intact in the latter case, but in neither of the two cases is the motion of the ring Born rigid during the transition from rest to rotational motion.