Difference between revisions of "Minkowski spacetime"
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Revision as of 21:52, 4 July 2016
SPECIAL RELATIVITY |
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Minkowski spacetime |
1905 – |
Minkowski spacetime is the four-dimensional geometrical realisation of the relationships of special relativity. To mathematicians, Minkowski spacetime tends to be considered as the more fundamental entity, with the special theory being defined as the associated physics.
Founding assumptions
Minkowski spacetime necessarily makes the same assumptions as special relativity regarding light - it assumes that when physical bodies exchange light-signals, the presence and relative motion of those bodies has zero effect on the propagation of light. Under Minkowski spacetime, the principle of relativity is not an effect that describes the physics of interacting bodies, it is a predetermined behaviour that is already dictated by the properties of "empty space", regardless of whether any physical masses exist in the region or not.