Foundations of Special Relativity and the Principle of Conservation of Information

Abstract

The theory of special relativity can be generalized by means of a new principle called Conservation of Information. This allows a derivation of the constancy of the velocity of light with respect to moving frames, and, consequently, of Einstein's special relativity. The analysis is based on a review of the concept of observer. It is put forward that observers are not uniquely defined and that an observational asymmetry, defined by the different ways in which light influences observations, lies at the origin of the non-absolutism of time. This observational difference is a kinematic condition, not an exclusive result for light, implying that non-absolutism of time may have a cause different from the electromagnetic nature of light. The Lorentz transformations are rederived and different concepts of the velocity of light, relative to different classes of observers, are considered.