FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction

FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction

The contraction of a moving body in the direction of its motion. In 1892 G. F. FitzGerald and H. A. Lorentz proposed independently that the failure of the Michelson-Morley experiment to detect an absolute motion of the Earth in space arose from a physical contraction of the interferometer in the direction of the Earth's motion. According to this hypothesis, as formulated more exactly by Albert Einstein in the special theory of relativity, a body in motion with speed v is contracted by a factor in the direction of motion, where c is the speed of light. See Light, Relativity

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Physics. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction

[fits¦jer·əld lə′rens kən‚trak·shən]

(relativity)

The contraction of a moving body in the direction of its motion when its speed is comparable to the speed of light. Also known as Lorentz contraction; Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.