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Looking at the classical Doppler effect there is one generalized equation, and they have a velocity of source, and observer. In the relativistic version, there is only one velocity taken into account, and, in my book, there are two separate equations for receding and approaching sources. These two formulas are leading me to be confused about the sign of the velocity, among other things. Is there a version with only one, generalized formula? And why is only one velocity taken into account, as opposed to the two from the classical version?

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    Which velocity is taking into account? For example in the frame of the observer the formula for the relativistic Doppler Effect is $$\omega_o = \frac {f_s}{\gamma (1 + \frac{v \cos\theta_o}{c})}$$ Here $f_o$ is the frequency in the observers rest frame and $f_s$ in the source's rest frame. $\theta_o$ is the angle between the moving direction of the observer and the source. As we are in the rest frame of the observer, there is only one (the source) velocity and the observer velocity is 0. See wikipedia – physicsGuy Jul 28 '13 at 18:42
  • Ah, so the two velocities are taken care of-one in f naught and one in Beta. –  Jul 28 '13 at 19:23

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