Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Definition of the Lorentz factor γ. The Lorentz factor or Lorentz term (also known as the gamma factor [1]) is a dimensionless quantity expressing how much the measurements of time, length, and other physical properties change for an object while it moves. The expression appears in several equations in special relativity, and it arises in ...
Lorentz factor as a function of speed (in natural units where c = 1). Notice that for small speeds (as v tends to zero), γ is approximately 1. In addition to the light clock used above, the formula for time dilation can be more generally derived from the temporal part of the Lorentz transformation. [28]
the lower incomplete gamma function; the third angle in a triangle, opposite the side c; the Euler–Mascheroni constant in mathematics [18] gamma rays and the photon; the heat capacity ratio in thermodynamics; the Lorentz factor in special relativity [19] the flight path angle of an airplane
γ(p) = Lorentz factor as function of momentum (see below) Ratio of thermal to rest mass-energy of each molecule: θ = k B T / m c 2 {\displaystyle \theta =k_{\text{B}}T/mc^{2}} K 2 is the modified Bessel function of the second kind.
In this example the time measured in the frame on the vehicle, t, is known as the proper time. The proper time between two events - such as the event of light being emitted on the vehicle and the event of light being received on the vehicle - is the time between the two events in a frame where the events occur at the same location.
where v is the relative velocity between frames in the x-direction, c is the speed of light, and = (lowercase gamma) is the Lorentz factor. Here, v is the parameter of the transformation, for a given boost it is a constant number, but can take a continuous range of values.
Thus in calculating the relative proper speed, Lorentz factors multiply when coordinate speeds add. Hence each of two electrons (A and C) in a head-on collision at 45 GeV in the lab frame (B) would see the other coming toward them at v AC ~ c and w AC = 88,000 2 (1 + 1) ~ 1.55×10 10 lightseconds per traveler second.
The prime examples of such four-vectors are the four-position and four-momentum of a particle, and for fields the electromagnetic tensor and stress–energy tensor. The fact that these objects transform according to the Lorentz transformation is what mathematically defines them as vectors and tensors; see tensor for a definition.