Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/6/solution

First work in the receiver's rest frame. If a source recedes at speed , two successive emissions separated by source proper time occur apart in this frame. During that interval the source retreats by , so the arrival interval is . The longitudinal relativistic Doppler effect is consequently
A negative describes approach and gives a blueshift.
Interpret as the laser's rest-frame wavelength and the stated detector velocity as measured in the initial laboratory frame. Choose from source to sensor, with detector velocity . The required relative recession speed follows from
By relativistic velocity addition, the source velocity in the laboratory obeys . Hence
The laser must move away from the sensor at about in that laboratory frame. Although the sensor moves toward the source's initial location, the retreating source produces the required net redshift. The frame qualification matters: a velocity permanently fixed relative to the moving source would specify the Doppler factor already, rather than leave it adjustable.

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