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A Lorentz scalar may be generated from, e.g., the scalar product of vectors, or by contracting tensors. While the components of the contracted quantities may change under Lorentz transformations, the Lorentz scalars remain unchanged. A simple Lorentz scalar in Minkowski spacetime is the spacetime distance ("length" of their difference) of two ...
As it is the dot product of two 4-vectors, the d'Alembertian is a Lorentz invariant scalar. Occasionally, in analogy with the 3-dimensional notation, the symbols {\displaystyle \Box } and 2 {\displaystyle \Box ^{2}} are used for the 4-gradient and d'Alembertian respectively.
The Lorentz transformation is a linear transformation. It may include a rotation of space; a rotation-free Lorentz transformation is called a Lorentz boost. In Minkowski space—the mathematical model of spacetime in special relativity—the Lorentz transformations preserve the spacetime interval between any two events. They describe only the ...
According to the representation theory of the Lorentz group, these quantities are built out of scalars, four-vectors, four-tensors, and spinors. In particular, a Lorentz covariant scalar (e.g., the space-time interval ) remains the same under Lorentz transformations and is said to be a Lorentz invariant (i.e., they transform under the trivial ...
A scalar field is invariant under any Lorentz transformation. [1] The only fundamental scalar quantum field that has been observed in nature is the Higgs field. However, scalar quantum fields feature in the effective field theory descriptions of many physical phenomena.
While both the scalar and vector potential depend upon the frame, the electromagnetic four-potential is Lorentz covariant. Like other potentials, many different electromagnetic four-potentials correspond to the same electromagnetic field, depending upon the choice of gauge.
The Lorentz group is a subgroup of the Poincaré group—the group of all isometries of Minkowski spacetime. Lorentz transformations are, precisely, isometries that leave the origin fixed. Thus, the Lorentz group is the isotropy subgroup with respect to the origin of the isometry group of Minkowski spacetime.
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 ...