GETT Correspondence Paper 3: Reconstruction of Special Relativity as an Emergent Local Kinematic Limit

This work presents the third paper in the GETT Correspondence Series, a programme aimed at reconstructing established physical theories as exact, domain-limited effective layers of a more general underlying framework.

In this paper, Special Relativity is reconstructed as an emergent correspondence layer within the General Expanse Tension Theory (GETT). Rather than treating relativistic principles as axiomatic, the approach defines an explicit physical domain—the SR Correspondence Domain—characterised by local homogeneity, isotropy, negligible gradients, absence of active regime transitions, and uniform propagation properties.

Within this domain, the full structure of Special Relativity is recovered, including:

• the Lorentz transformation
• invariant spacetime interval and proper time
• relativistic kinematics (time dilation, length contraction, simultaneity)
• velocity addition and causal structure
• relativistic energy–momentum relations

The reconstruction demonstrates that these results arise as necessary consequences of the defined physical conditions, rather than independent postulates.

The paper further shows that all experimentally verified predictions of Special Relativity are preserved within this domain, including:

• null light-speed anisotropy tests
• relativistic Doppler behaviour (including transverse Doppler effect)
• time-dilation measurements (e.g. muon lifetime experiments)
• high-energy particle dynamics

A key contribution of the work is the explicit identification of the conditions under which the relativistic description is exact. This establishes Special Relativity as a domain-limited effective theory, embedded within a broader hierarchy of physical regimes.

While previous studies have derived Lorentz symmetry from general symmetry principles, this work differs in providing a complete correspondence reconstruction grounded in an explicit physical framework, with clearly defined regime conditions.

Context within the GETT Correspondence Series

• Paper 1: Reconstruction of classical inertial kinematics
• Paper 2: Reconstruction of Newtonian gravity and Keplerian dynamics
• Paper 3 (this work): Reconstruction of Special Relativity

Together, these results establish a nested hierarchy in which classical and Newtonian descriptions emerge as limiting cases of the relativistic framework.

Significance

This work contributes a structured and physically grounded interpretation of Special Relativity, preserving its full empirical success while clarifying the conditions under which it applies. By explicitly defining its domain of validity, the framework provides a basis for investigating regimes in which departures from standard relativistic behaviour may arise.

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