SPATIAL COORDINATE SYSTEMS AND RELATIVISTIC TRANSFORMATION EQUATIONS

Constants of integration appearing in Lorentz transformation equations relating an event ( ) t z y x , , , in an inertial frame S to the corresponding event ( ) t z y x ' ' ' ' , , , in another inertial frame S' are considered. It is shown that in the usual application of the Lorentz transformations, different x-coordinate systems are used to specify the positions of two spatially-separated objects. The 'length contraction' and 'relativity of simultaneity' effects of conventional relativity theory are a consequence of this trivial mathematical error.