Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/9/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford 2017 9 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For the forward ray of i, the ultrarelativistic longitudinal Doppler factor follows from the exact expression in terms of the Lorentz factor:Indeed, for a positive boost. If , the exact formulas and their consistent asymptotic expansions areEquivalently,The printed equality is not exact. For a concrete ultrarelativistic example, gives the correct , whereas . The latter expands as , with the wrong first correction.
One can obtain the printed expression by using but replacing by only its leading approximation . This retains a constant term in the first equation while discarding a same-order term in the second. Thus is admissible only as a leading relative-accuracy estimate, of the same order as ; it is not the stated identity or a correct next-order approximation.
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