Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Relativity

Special treatment

Nature volume 418, pages 34–35 (2002)Cite this article

The detection of cosmic rays with unexpectedly high energies has prompted a rethink of Einstein's theory of special relativity. A new formulation, called 'doubly special relativity', might be the answer.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the theory of space and time that had originated with Galileo and Newton was abandoned — it was incompatible with the mathematical structure of Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism and in conflict with the results of the Michelson–Morley experiments that had disproved the existence of the aether. Galileo–Newton theory was superseded by Einstein's theory of special relativity, but, after a century of success, that too is now being questioned. The observation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays1 seems to be in conflict with a key prediction of special relativity, and some approaches to the construction of 'quantum gravity' — a theory that would unite quantum mechanics and general relativity — seem to require2 the introduction of a new absolute scale in the theory of special relativity. Writing in Physical Review Letters, Magueijo and Smolin3 propose a scheme for the modification of special relativity, in which a new absolute scale sets simultaneously the maximum energy and maximum momentum of fundamental particles.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Cosmic-ray shower.

References

  1. Bird, D. J. et al. Astrophys. J. 441, 144–150 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Amelino-Camelia, G. Phys. Lett. B 510, 255–263 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Magueijo, J. & Smolin, L. Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 190403 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kowalski-Glikman, J. Mod. Phys. Lett. A 17, 1–12 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Carlip, S. Rep. Prog. Phys. 64, 885–942 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Amelino-Camelia, G., Benedetti, D. & D'Andrea, F. Preprint hep-th/0201245 (2002); http://xxx.lanl.gov

  7. Kowalski-Glikman, J. & Nowak, S. Preprint hep-th/0203040 (2002); http://xxx.lanl.gov

  8. Lukierski, J. & Nowicki, A. Preprint hep-th/0203065 (2002); http://xxx.lanl.gov

  9. Judes, S. & Visser, M. Preprint gr-qc/0205067 (2002); http://xxx.lanl.gov

  10. Amelino-Camelia, G., Ellis, J., Mavromatos, N. E., Nanopoulos, D. V. & Sarkar, S. Nature 393, 763–765 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, Roma, I-00185, Italy

    Giovanni Amelino-Camelia

Authors
  1. Giovanni Amelino-Camelia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Amelino-Camelia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Amelino-Camelia, G. Special treatment. Nature 418, 34–35 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/418034a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/418034a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing