We all have in mind Einstein’s famous thought experiment in the elevator where we observe the free fall of a body, and then the trajectory of a light ray. Here, in addition to the qualitative aspect, the exact calculations are carried out, and the worldlines equations are given. A uniformly accelerated reference frame in rectilinear translation is considered, and it is shown that the trajectories of the particles are semi-ellipses with the center on the event horizon. The frame of reference is non-inertial, the spacetime is flat, and the computations are performed within the framework of special relativity. Some experimental consequences are discussed, especially the experiment with the accelerated Michelson–Morley interferometer is solved, and an experiment, where a new relativistic paradox appears—a particle of matter seems to go faster than light—is described. The differences, compared to the classical case, are important at a large scale and close to the horizon, but they are small in the lift where the interest is above all theoretical. The concepts of metric, coordinated velocity and horizon are discussed, and an analogy with the black hole is made.

On a rotating disk, two particles bounce at the vertices of a regular polygon in opposite directions. On the return to the entry point, a clock measures the time difference, called Sagnac effect. Due to Coriolis effects, the counterclockwise and clockwise paths are different. The particular case of the slow disk where the two trajectories are very close and almost polygonal is studied. The existence of a transition between a classical and a relativistic regime is proved. An experimental verification is proposed. Although the two Sagnac effects seem analogous, in detail their behavior is quite different.

The description of the rotating disk in special relativity is revisited to find a new property that could help to improve the performance of gyrometers. On a rotating disk, two particles which bounce in opposite directions at the vertices of a regular polygon are considered. On the return to the entry point, a clock measures the time difference. A particle moving in the direction of the rotation of the disc needs more time to make one complete turn. Even if that particle is a photon, as in the original Sagnac experiment. In this paper, the time difference is explained by the difference between clockwise and counter-clockwise trajectories, due to different Coriolis effects. The particular case of the slow disk where the two trajectories are very close and almost polygonal is studied. The theoretical existence of a transition between a classical and a relativistic regime is proved, and an experimental verification with an atomic interferometer is proposed. Although the novel effect discovered and the well-known Sagnac effect seem analogous, in detail, their behavior is quite different.

We all have in mind Einstein's famous thought experiment in the elevator where we observe the free fall of a body, and then the trajectory of a light ray. Simply here, in addition to the qualitative aspect, we carry out the exact calculation, and for the first time the worldlines equations are given. We consider a uniformly accelerated reference frame in rectilinear translation, and we show that the trajectories of the particles are semi-ellipses with the center on the event horizon. The frame of reference is non-inertial, the space-time is flat, and the computations are performed within the framework of special relativity. Some experimental consequences are discussed, especially the experiment with the accelerated Michelson-Morley interferometer is solved, and we described an experiment where a new relativistic paradox appears --- a particle of matter seems to go faster than light. The differences, compared to the classical case, are important at large scale and close to the horizon, but they are small in the lift where the interest is above all theoretical. The concepts of metric, coordinated velocity and horizon are discussed, and the analogy with the black hole is made.