The physics of space and time II: A reassessment of Einstein's 1905 special relativity paper

Abstract

A detailed re-examination of the seminal paper on special relativity, taking into account recent work on the physical interpretation of the space-time Lorentz transformation as well as the modern understanding of classical elecromagnetism as a certain limit of the fundamental underlying theory --quantum electrodynamics-- is presented. Many errors both of physical principle and of a mathematical nature are uncovered. The `relativity of simultaneity' and `length contraction' effects predicted in the paper are shown to be the spurious consequences of misinterpretations of the second postulate and the Lorentz transformation, respectively. The derivation of the latter in the paper is shown to be flawed. In this case, and other instances, due to cancellation of mistakes, a correct result is obtained in a fallacious manner. Separate lists of the correct and incorrect predictions of the paper are given. Due to the unique and revolutionary nature of its epistemological approach (the use of `thought experiments' and axiomatic derivations) and the experimentally verified predictions of time-dilatation and mass-energy equivalence the fundamental importance of the paper for the development of physics is little affected by the many mathematical errors and (to modern eyes) physical misconceptions that it contains.