Relativistic Effects in the Global Positioning System
نویسنده
چکیده
The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides a superb opportunity to introduce relativity concepts to undergraduate students, including non-physics majors. Familiarity with the numerous applications of GPS motivates students to understand relativity. A few fundamental principles need to be introduced, including the postulates of special relativity and the universality of free fall. Then a series of thought experiments leads to the breakdown of simultaneity, the Sagnac effect, the first-order Doppler effect, gravitational frequency shifts, and time dilation. This article presents this chain of thought and explains the essential role of special and general relativity in the GPS.
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