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Boosted Rel-Velocity
Change of rel-velocity during a boost.
This animation uses two rel-speeds/velocities, not one:
- the usual β, for the rel-speed of a boosted grid with respect to another, along the x-axis.
- the rel-velocity of an object.
The object has a rel-velocity in both the unboosted grid (green dots), and the boosted grid (white dots).
Each rel-velocity vector starts at the origin (in the center), and ends in a single dot.
The βx-component is vertical, and the βy-component is horizontal (as shown by the axes in the center.)
The center has rel-speed=0, and the large outer circle with the degree divisions represents the speed limit (rel-speed=1).
The β boost between grids is positive in the direction of the +βx-axis.
It starts out as the classical aberration formula, and the form stays as a circle.
As speeds increase, the form changes to an ellipse, contracts, and compresses against the speed limit (β=1) circle.
Note that:
- the boosted rel-speed never exceeds the speed limit (the large outer circle).
- when the object's rel-speed is 1 in the unboosted grid, its rel-speed remains 1 in the boosted grid.
- when the object's rel-speed is 1, only the direction of the velocity vector changes.
The circle of dots remains a circle.
This is simply the aberration of light.