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4 Vector S Introduction

In special relativity, a four-vector is a vector with four components that transform together under rotations, boosts, and other transformations between inertial frames, as described by the Lorentz transformations and Poincaré group. The components of a four-vector refer to a basis and represent the space and time coordinate differences between frames, such as (ct, x, y, z), where c is the speed of light. Four-vectors provide a mathematical framework for describing physical quantities that transform consistently between inertial systems in special relativity.

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Prabhat Ray
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31 views

4 Vector S Introduction

In special relativity, a four-vector is a vector with four components that transform together under rotations, boosts, and other transformations between inertial frames, as described by the Lorentz transformations and Poincaré group. The components of a four-vector refer to a basis and represent the space and time coordinate differences between frames, such as (ct, x, y, z), where c is the speed of light. Four-vectors provide a mathematical framework for describing physical quantities that transform consistently between inertial systems in special relativity.

Uploaded by

Prabhat Ray
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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4 vector s introduction In the theory of relativity, a four-vector or 4-vector is a vector in a four-dimensional real vector space, called Minkowski space.

It differs from a Euclidean vector in that four-vectors transform by the Lorentz transformations. The term four-vector tacitly assumes that its components refer to a vector basis. In a standard basis, the components transform between these bases as the space and time coordinate differences, (ct, x, y, z) under spatial translations, spatial rotations, spatial and time inversions and boosts (a change by a constant velocity to another inertial reference frame). The set of all such translations, rotations, inversions and boosts (called Poincar transformations) forms the Poincar group. The set of rotations, inversions and boosts (Lorentz transformations, described by 44 matrices) forms the Lorentz group. The article considers four-vectors in the context of special relativity. Although the concept of fourvectors also extends to general

relativity, some of the results stated in this article require modification in general relativity. The notations in this article are: lowercase bold for three dimensional vectors, hats for three dimensional unit vectors, capital bold for four dimensional vectors (except for the fourgradient), and tensor index notation

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