WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Thomas Precession in Accelerated Planar Motion

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heading angle θ
2.231
show contraction
rapidity η
1.
show crosshairs
Gyroscopes aligned with the coordinate axes of a relativistically accelerated observer are seen by an inertial observer to precess even in torque-free acceleration. Increase the
θ
values to simulate precession and use the rapidity control (
η=arctan(v/c)
) to vary the speed of the body; slow the simulation down for high rapidity values to see the precession more clearly. You can unclick the "show contraction" checkbox to suppress the Lorentz–Fitzgerald contraction of the gyroscope lengths to focus their directions.