Alexandru S. Parvan
Alexandru S. Parvan | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Generalized special relativity with an arbitrary invariant limiting velocity |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Măgurele; Institute of Applied Physics, Chișinău |
Alexandru S. Parvan is a theoretical physicist known for proposing a generalized special theory of relativity in which the invariant limiting velocity of a particle need not equal the speed of light in vacuum. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Parvan works in theoretical and statistical physics, much of his output concerning nonextensive (Tsallis) statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. He has been affiliated with the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH) in Măgurele, Romania, and with the Institute of Applied Physics in Chișinău.
In a 2012 arXiv paper, Special relativity with an arbitrary invariant limiting velocity of a particle (arXiv:1202.3319), he argues that a generalized special theory of relativity can be constructed from the equation of a four-dimensional hyperboloid of revolution, yielding Lorentz-type transformations for any chosen limiting velocity. In this framework the ordinary special theory of relativity is recovered when the limiting velocity equals the speed of light. He suggested the proposal could be applied to the (subsequently retracted) OPERA measurement that appeared to show superluminal muon neutrinos, treating such particles as superluminal rather than as tachyons. This modification of the standard postulate that the speed of light is the universal invariant velocity lies outside mainstream special relativity, and it is on this basis that he is listed in the directory under the "superluminal" category.