Minkowski Diagram
A Minkowski Diagram is a Two-Dimensional Graph that consists of one space dimension and one time dimension.
- AKA: Spacetime Diagram.
- See: World Line, Hermann Minkowski, Special Theory of Relativity, Time Dilation, Length Contraction, Universe, Units of Measurement.
References
2020
- (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minkowski_diagram Retrieved:2020-1-21.
- The Minkowski diagram, also known as a spacetime diagram, was developed in 1908 by Hermann Minkowski and provides an illustration of the properties of space and time in the special theory of relativity. It allows a qualitative understanding of the corresponding phenomena like time dilation and length contraction without mathematical equations.
Minkowski diagrams are two-dimensional graphs that depict events as happening in a universe consisting of one space dimension and one time dimension. Unlike a regular distance-time graph, the distance is displayed on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical axis. Additionally, the time and space units of measurement are chosen in such a way that an object moving at the speed of light is depicted as following a 45° angle to the diagram's axes.
In this way, each object, like an observer or a vehicle, traces a certain line in the diagram, which is called its world line. Also, each point in the diagram represents a certain position in space and time, and is called an event, regardless of whether anything relevant happens there and then.
- The Minkowski diagram, also known as a spacetime diagram, was developed in 1908 by Hermann Minkowski and provides an illustration of the properties of space and time in the special theory of relativity. It allows a qualitative understanding of the corresponding phenomena like time dilation and length contraction without mathematical equations.