| the hypothesis that a moving body exhibits a contraction in the direction of motion when its velocity is close to the speed of light. |
[fits-jer-uh
ld lawr-ents, -lohr-] 
, Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction, Lorentz contraction, length contraction. | length contraction n. See Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction. |
| Lo·rentz-Fitz·Ger·ald contraction (lôr'ənts-fĭts-jěr'ld, lōr'-) n. The shortening of an object along its direction of motion as its speed approaches the speed of light, as measured by an observer at rest with respect to the body. Also called length contraction, Lorentz contraction. [After Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald (1851-1901), Irish physicist.] |