Editing Inertial frame of reference (section)

==Special relativity==
{{Main|Special relativity}}

[[Albert Einstein|Einstein's]] [[special relativity|theory of special relativity]], like Newtonian mechanics, postulates the equivalence of all inertial reference frames. However, because special relativity postulates that the [[speed of light]] in [[free space]] is [[Invariant (physics)|invariant]], the transformation between inertial frames is the [[Lorentz transformation]], not the [[Galilean transformation]] which is used in Newtonian mechanics.

The invariance of the speed of light leads to counter-intuitive phenomena, such as [[time dilation]], [[length contraction]], and the [[relativity of simultaneity]]. The predictions of special relativity have been extensively verified experimentally.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnlpAwAAQBAJ |title=Relativity for Scientists and Engineers |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-486-79367-2 |edition=reprinted |page=27}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=pnlpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 Extract of page 27]</ref> The Lorentz transformation reduces to the Galilean transformation as the speed of light approaches infinity or as the relative velocity between frames approaches zero.<ref name="Landau">{{Cite book |author1=LD Landau |title=The Classical Theory of Fields |author2=LM Lifshitz |date=1975 |publisher=Pergamon Press |isbn=978-0-7506-2768-9 |edition=4th Revised English |pages=273–274}}</ref>