Robert F J van Linden
Robert F. J. van Linden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Residence | Stein, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Known for | Euclidean interpretation of special relativity |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
Robert F. J. van Linden (also cited as Rob F. J. van Linden) is a Dutch electrical engineer and independent physics researcher based in Stein, the Netherlands. He is known for developing and promoting a Euclidean interpretation of special relativity, in which the geometry of spacetime is treated as Euclidean rather than Minkowskian, and for maintaining a reference website on the subject.
Biography
Van Linden began studying physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, but broke off his studies in favour of a career as a professional musician. After five years working in music, he resumed his education and completed a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. In 1986 he took a position as an ICT project leader and consultant at a global chemicals company.
Around the end of 2002, a renewed interest in physics led him to take up his original field of study again in his free time as an autodidact, drawing on the physics programme of Leiden University and course material available online. He has continued this self-directed study on an irregular basis.
Scientific contributions
Van Linden's work centres on Euclidean relativity, an alternative geometric formulation of relativity theory in which four-dimensional velocity vectors have an invariant magnitude equal to the speed of light c. In his interpretation, proper time acts as a fourth Euclidean coordinate and coordinate time is treated as a further dimension, so that motion is described by velocity components in both space and time whose vector sum has magnitude c. From this framework he derives the standard relativistic equations, while noting that the resulting velocity-addition formula deviates from the conventional one, for which he offers an analysis and justification.
He has published several papers on the approach, including "Minkowski versus Euclidean 4-vectors" (2006), "Dimensions in Special Relativity Theory - a Euclidean Interpretation" (2007) in Galilean Electrodynamics, "The Universe as a Multi-Dimensional Fractal" (2017), and "Momentum Exchange with Radiation in Euclidean Special Relativity" (2026). He also maintains the website euclideanrelativity.com as a reference resource on the topic.
Abstracts
- 2007 - "[[Dimensions in Special Relativity Theory - a Euclidean Interpretation
]]"
External links
- Euclidean relativity - van Linden's reference website
- "Dimensions in Special Relativity Theory - a Euclidean Interpretation" (PDF)