When an object is observed to move near the speed of light, what difference in thermal energy is observed? Does time dilation imply that it's colder?
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A similar question: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/83488/is-temperature-a-lorentz-invariant-in-relativity – Ernie Aug 05 '15 at 20:04
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@AcidJazz: that's a function of an accelerating observer and it refers to the background temperature, not velocity past an observer and the apparent temperature of the body moving at that velocity. – Mike Dunlavey Aug 05 '15 at 20:08
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1Rather than looking at time dilation, the impact of velocity on thermal energy is best seen by examining the Doppler effect on the thermal spectrum. Note that the answer will depend some also on whether the object in question is a blackbody or not. – Paul Aug 05 '15 at 20:10
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In particular, the answer of the change in temperature depends on which direction the object is moving. This is why the Doppler effect is a better tool for analysis than time dilation, since the Doppler effect depends on direction. – Paul Aug 05 '15 at 20:27