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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.
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 ...
In general relativity, the metric tensor (in this context often abbreviated to simply the metric) is the fundamental object of study.The metric captures all the geometric and causal structure of spacetime, being used to define notions such as time, distance, volume, curvature, angle, and separation of the future and the past.
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.
In mathematical physics, spacetime algebra (STA) is the application of Clifford algebra Cl 1,3 (R), or equivalently the geometric algebra G(M 4) to physics. Spacetime algebra provides a "unified, coordinate-free formulation for all of relativistic physics, including the Dirac equation, Maxwell equation and General Relativity" and "reduces the mathematical divide between classical, quantum and ...
The transformations connect the space and time coordinates of an event as measured by an observer in each frame. [nb 1] They supersede the Galilean transformation of Newtonian physics, which assumes an absolute space and time (see Galilean relativity). The Galilean transformation is a good approximation only at relative speeds much less than ...
The defining property for the gamma matrices to generate a Clifford algebra is the anticommutation relation {,} = + = ,where the curly brackets {,} represent the anticommutator, is the Minkowski metric with signature (+ − − −), and is the 4 × 4 identity matrix.
Minkowski space is named for the German mathematician Hermann Minkowski, who around 1907 realized that the theory of special relativity (previously developed by Poincaré and Einstein) could be elegantly described using a four-dimensional spacetime, which combines the dimension of time with the three dimensions of space.