The Other Meaning of Special Relativity

Einstein’s special theory of relativity postulates that the speed of light is a constant for all inertial observers. This postulate can be used to derive the Lorenz transformations relating length and time measurements by different observers. In this paper it is shown that the Lorentz transformations can be obtained for any type of wave simply by defining distance to be proportional to wave propagation time. The special nature of light is that length and time measured by light propagation correspond exactly with length and time measured by material rulers and clocks. This suggests that material objects consist of waves propagating at the speed of light. Taking this as an alternative postulate for special relativity implies constancy of the measured speed of light without any recourse to non-Euclidean geometry of physical space-time. This alternative postulate is consistent with de Broglie’s wave hypothesis, with the Dirac velocity operator of quantum mechanics, and with experimental observations of transformations between matter and light.