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A spacetime diagram is a graphical illustration of locations in space at various times, especially in the special theory of relativity.Spacetime diagrams can show the geometry underlying phenomena like time dilation and length contraction without mathematical equations.
A spacetime diagram is typically drawn with only a single space and a single time coordinate. Fig. 2-1 presents a spacetime diagram illustrating the world lines (i.e. paths in spacetime) of two photons, A and B, originating from the same event and going in opposite directions. In addition, C illustrates the world line of a slower-than-light ...
Hermann Minkowski (1864–1909) found that the theory of special relativity could be best understood as a four-dimensional space, since known as the Minkowski spacetime. In physics, Minkowski space (or Minkowski spacetime) (/ m ɪ ŋ ˈ k ɔː f s k i,-ˈ k ɒ f-/ [1]) is the main mathematical description of spacetime in the absence of gravitation.
Spacetime algebra is a type of geometric algebra that is closely related to Minkowski space, and is equivalent to other formalisms of special relativity. It uses mathematical objects such as bivectors to replace tensors in traditional formalisms of Minkowski spacetime, leading to much simpler equations than in matrix mechanics or vector calculus.
The principle of local Lorentz covariance, which states that the laws of special relativity hold locally about each point of spacetime, lends further support to the choice of a manifold structure for representing spacetime, as locally around a point on a general manifold, the region 'looks like', or approximates very closely Minkowski space ...
A world line traces out the path of a single point in spacetime. A world sheet is the analogous two-dimensional surface traced out by a one-dimensional line (like a string) traveling through spacetime. The world sheet of an open string (with loose ends) is a strip; that of a closed string (a loop) resembles a tube. Once the object is not ...
Spacetime topology is the topological structure of spacetime, a topic studied primarily in general relativity. This physical theory models gravitation as the curvature of a four dimensional Lorentzian manifold (a spacetime) and the concepts of topology thus become important in analysing local as well as global aspects of spacetime.
The approach is local and both covariant as well as gauge invariant but can be non-linear because the approach is built around the local comoving observer frame (see frame bundle) which is used to thread the entire space-time. This approach to perturbation theory produces differential equations that are of just the right order needed to ...