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Calculating the Minkowski norm squared of the four-momentum gives a Lorentz invariant quantity equal (up to factors of the speed of light c) to the square of the particle's proper mass: = = = + | | = where = is the metric tensor of special relativity with metric signature for definiteness chosen to be (–1, 1, 1, 1).
Spacetime mathematically viewed as R 4 endowed with this bilinear form is known as Minkowski space M. The Lorentz transformation is thus an element of the group O(1, 3), the Lorentz group or, for those that prefer the other metric signature, O(3, 1) (also called the Lorentz group). [nb 3] One has:
The restricted Lorentz group is a connected normal subgroup of the full Lorentz group with the same dimension, in this case with dimension six. The restricted Lorentz group is generated by ordinary spatial rotations and Lorentz boosts (which are rotations in a hyperbolic space that includes a time-like direction [ 2 ] ).
In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing and understanding relativistic effects, such as how different observers perceive where and when events ...
Although this allows the construction of a string theory in 4 spacetime dimensions, such a theory usually does not describe a Lorentz invariant background. However, there are recent developments which make possible Lorentz invariant quantization of string theory in 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time. [citation needed]
In special and general relativity, the four-current (technically the four-current density) [1] is the four-dimensional analogue of the current density, with units of charge per unit time per unit area. Also known as vector current, it is used in the geometric context of four-dimensional spacetime, rather than separating time from three ...
Given two inertial or rotated frames of reference, a four-vector is defined as a quantity which transforms according to the Lorentz transformation matrix Λ: ′ =. In index notation, the contravariant and covariant components transform according to, respectively: ′ =, ′ = in which the matrix Λ has components Λ μ ν in row μ and column ν, and the matrix (Λ −1) T has components Λ ...
In Einstein's theory of relativity, the path of an object moving relative to a particular frame of reference is defined by four coordinate functions x μ (τ), where μ is a spacetime index which takes the value 0 for the timelike component, and 1, 2, 3 for the spacelike coordinates.