{
  "annotation_id": "0d089c0b-6776-474c-8368-6f37869b5f3f",
  "date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:03.608000Z",
  "date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:03.608000Z",
  "file_hash": "8474d55c34f0b8f92ce5c22dfe41f96f1e2ea6a382a91e0464d476b63325c361",
  "private": false,
  "record": {
    "abstract": "A human creates an image basing on the information delivered by photons that\narrived at his retina simultaneously. Due to finite and constant velocity of\nlight these photons left the moving body at different times, since not all\npoints of the body are equidistant. In other words its image represents the\nbody as it was in several different times i.e. it is distorted and does not\ncorrespond to its real appearance. The useful experimental arrangement is set\nand then used to derive the general expression that transforms two-dimensional\nstationary shapes to their apparent forms, which could be photographed once\nthey are set in motion. It is then used to simulate the so-called Gamow\u0027s\nbicycle combined out of circles and straight lines. The simulation outlines two\nimportant aspects of bike\u0027s motion: apparent distance of two points and\napparent velocity which are then discussed thoroughly. It is found that the\napproaching body is elongated and its apparent speed is greater than its real\none (under certain conditions can exceed the speed of light), whereas the\nreceding one is contracted (but not in a matter of Lorentz contraction) with\nthe speed smaller than the real one. Both the apparent length and speed tends\nto a certain limit when time tends to plus or minus infinity. The change of\nboth parameters takes place in the vicinity of the nearest approach to the\nobserver and is more rapid when the velocity greater and the distance is\nsmaller. When the moving vertical rod is seen at right angle, its total\napparent length is Lorentz contracted, however its interior is still distorted.\nAt the same conditions apparent velocity of a point equals its real one.\nFinally it is proven that not only the apparent geometrical shape changes as\nthe body moves but also its color according to Doppler shift.",
    "arxiv_id": "physics/0512054",
    "authors": [
      "Andrzej Nowojewski"
    ],
    "categories": [
      "physics.pop-ph"
    ],
    "title": "Gamow\u0027s bicycle: The Appearance of Bodies at Relativistic Speeds and   Apparent Superluminal Velocities",
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0512054"
  },
  "schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
  "source": {
    "execution_id": "4d28b1f5-c199-4985-961b-b882727e735e",
    "id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
    "type": "Model",
    "variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
    "version": "0.1.0"
  },
  "user_id": 1000002
}