Relativistic velocity transformation inequality

41 Views Asked by At

Suppose $-c<u<c$ and $-c<v<c$. Prove that $\displaystyle -c<\frac{u+v}{1+uv/c^2}<c$.

My attempt:

Adding the two given inequalities, we get $-2c<u+v<2c$.

$|u|<c$ and $|v|<c$

$\implies |u||v|<c^2$

$\implies -c^2<uv<c^2$

$\implies -1<uv/c^2<1$

$\implies 0<1+uv/c^2<2$

$\displaystyle\implies\frac{1}{2}<\frac{1}{1+uv/c^2}$

I think I'm on the right track but I don't know how to proceed.

1

There are 1 best solutions below

1
On BEST ANSWER

Consider $$\frac{u+v}{1+uv/c^2}<c$$ Since $|uv/c^2|<1$ the denominator is greater than $0$, so we can multiply by it and then divide by $c$:

$$ \frac uc+\frac vc < 1+\frac uc\frac vc,\\ 1-\frac uc-\frac vc+\frac uc\frac vc > 0,\\ \left(1-\frac uc\right)\left(1-\frac vc\right) > 0. $$

Can you see it now? Can you apply the same logic to $-c<\dots$?