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The proper time interval between two events on a world line is the change in proper time, which is independent of coordinates, and is a Lorentz scalar. [1] The interval is the quantity of interest, since proper time itself is fixed only up to an arbitrary additive constant, namely the setting of the clock at some event along the world line.
A clock that is stationary with respect to the observer has a world line that is vertical, and the elapsed time measured by the observer is the same as the proper time. For a clock traveling at 0.3 c , the elapsed time measured by the observer is 5.24 meters ( 1.75 × 10 −8 s ), while for a clock traveling at 0.7 c , the elapsed time measured ...
Proper distance is analogous to proper time. The difference is that the proper distance is defined between two spacelike-separated events (or along a spacelike path), while the proper time is defined between two timelike-separated events (or along a timelike path).
The arclength parameter is called proper time and usually denoted τ. The length of M is called the proper time of the particle. If the worldline M is a line segment, then the particle is said to be in free fall. [1]: 62–63 A world line traces out the path of a single point in spacetime.
Fig 4–2. Relativistic time dilation, as depicted in a single Loedel spacetime diagram. Both observers consider the clock of the other as running slower. Relativistic time dilation refers to the fact that a clock (indicating its proper time in its rest frame) that moves relative to an observer is observed to run slower. The situation is ...
In such instances, the proper times along several geodesics will not in general be the same. For some geodesics in such instances, it is possible for a curve that connects the two events and is nearby to the geodesic to have either a longer or a shorter proper time than the geodesic. [11]
The concept of proper reference frame was later reintroduced and further developed in connection with Fermi–Walker transport in the textbooks by Christian Møller (1952) [7] or Synge (1960). [8] An overview of proper time transformations and alternatives was given by Romain (1963), [9] who cited the contributions
Here, overdots denote differentiation with respect to proper time, counted off along our timelike congruence (i.e. we take the covariant derivative with respect to the vector field X). This can be regarded as a description of how one can determine the tidal tensor from observations of a single timelike congruence.