The Context of Lorentz Transformation

Abstract

The hypothesis that the universe is filled with a “drifting aether” was initially explained by maxwell’s discovery that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, independent of the implicated velocity in the reference frame. The Michelson-Morley experiment was designed to look for “drifting aether”. Instead, the experiment turned out to be zero. Disappointed, Lorentz came up with the Lorentz contraction factor, which perfectly explained the zero results of the Michelson-Morley experiment. Then, the famous Lorentz transformation was proposed. But the “local time” is just a hypothesis, a virtual number, with no physical or mathematical meaning. Finally, Einstein put forward the space-time view of special relativity, which gave the physical significance of “Lorentz transformation” and “local time”. At the same time, we put forward the design principle of Michelson-Morley experiment, the derivation principle of Lorentz transformation formula, the definition principle of Einstein’s simultaneity, and the existing problems, and put forward our own questions, looking forward to teachers’ criticism and correction.