Which of the following best describes special relativity?

Special relativity is fundamentally concerned with the behavior of observers who are moving uniformly relative to one another, meaning they are in inertial reference frames. This theory, proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905, establishes that the laws of physics remain the same for all observers moving at constant velocities, regardless of their relative speeds.

One of the key implications of special relativity is that there is no absolute frame of reference; instead, the measurements of time, distance, mass, and other physical properties can differ for observers in different inertial frames. This leads to phenomena such as time dilation and length contraction, which only occur when comparing observations made by observers in constant motion relative to each other.

The other options do not accurately represent the principles of special relativity. While the first choice may seem valid in the broad context of physics, it doesn't specify that it applies to uniform motion and therefore lacks the specificity required to describe special relativity accurately. The third choice inaccurately limits special relativity to objects at rest, which contradicts its core principles that include objects moving at significant fractions of the speed of light. Lastly, associating special relativity with thermodynamics misplaces its foundational concepts, as it primarily addresses the implications of constant velocities rather than therm