The Lorentz Group, a Galilean Approach

In order to generalize the relativistic notion of boost to the case of non inertial particles and to general relativity, we come back to the definition of Lie group of Lorentz matrices and its Lie algebra and we study how this group acts on the Minskowski space. We thus define the notion of tangent boost along a worldline. This notion very general notion gives a useful tool both in special relativity (for non inertial particles or/and for non rectilinear coordinates) and in g...

Using the notion, developed in an earlier paper, of "representation" of "position" by a vector in a vector space with an inner product, we show that the Lorentz Transformation Equations relating positions in two different reference frames can be put in a particularly simple form which could be said to be "Galilean". We emphasize that two different reference frames can use a common vector space for representation but with two different inner products. The inner products are de...

The Lorentz Transformations are derived without any linearity assumptions and without assuming that y and z coordinates transform in a Galilean manner. Status of the invariance of the speed of light is reduced from a foundation of the Special Theory of Relativity to just a property which allows to determine a value of the physical constant. While high level of rigour is maintained, this paper should be accessible to a second year university physics student.

This paper describes a particularly didactic and transparent derivation of basic properties of the Lorentz group. The generators for rotations and boosts along an arbitrary direction, as well as their commutation relations, are written as functions of the unit vectors that define the axis of rotation or the direction of the boost (an approach that can be compared with the one that in electrodynamics, works with the electric and magnetic fields instead of the Maxwell stress te...

The structure of the Lorentz transformations follows purely from the absence of privileged inertial reference frames and the group structure (closure under composition) of the transformations---two assumptions that are simple and physically necessary. The existence of an invariant speed is \textit{not} a necessary assumption, and in fact is a consequence of the principle of relativity (though the finite value of this speed must, of course, be obtained from experiment). Von Ig...

We here deduce Lorentz transformation (LT) as a member of a class of time-dependent coordinate transformations, complementary to those already known as spatial translations and rotations. This exercise validates the principle of physical determination of equations within special relativity theory (SRT), in accordance with the derivation of the LT in Einstein's original paper on relativity. This validation is possible because our LT deduction also discloses the real physics wa...

In these notes we give an introductory unified treatment to the topics of special relativity, Lorentz transformations and the Lorentz group, Einstein velocitiy addition, and gyrogroups and gyrovector spaces. An effort has been made to present the material in a manner that is accessible to non-specialists and graduate students, and may even serve as the basis for a graduate course or seminar.

The standard classic special relativistic transformation of the electromagnetic (EM) field under proper Lorentz transformations is revisited. As to the pure Lorentz-boosts, popular treatments on EM transformation contemplate ideal geometries generating special static charge and steady current distributions and in conjunction, invoke parallel and perpendicular (to the boost-velocity) components of the fields so engendered; the outcomes subsequently being suitably generalized. ...

We show that the electromagnetic field tensor and the Lorentz Force are both a natural consequence of the geometric structure of Minkowskian space, being related to infinitesimal boosts and rotations in spacetime. The longstanding issue about the apparent empirical origin of the Lorentz Force is clarified.

We review why the Thomas rotation is a crucial facet of special relativity, that is just as fundamental, and just as "unintuitive" and "paradoxical", as such traditional effects as length contraction, time dilation, and the ambiguity of simultaneity. We show how this phenomenon can be quite naturally introduced and investigated in the context of a typical introductory course on special relativity, in a way that is appropriate for, and completely accessible to, undergraduate s...