In Special Relativity
A beam of coherent, monochromatic light can be characterized by the (null) wave 4-vector
which, when written out explicitly in its contravariant and covariant forms is
-
- and
The null character of the wave 4-vector gives a relation between the frequency and the magnitude of the spatial part of the wave 4-vector:
Read more about this topic: Wave Vector
Famous quotes containing the words special and/or relativity:
“Those of us who are in this world to educateto care foryoung children have a special calling: a calling that has very little to do with the collection of expensive possessions but has a lot to do with the worth inside of heads and hearts. In fact, thats our domain: the heads and hearts of the next generation, the thoughts and feelings of the future.”
—Fred M. Rogers, U.S. writer and host of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. That Which is Essential Is Invisible to the Eye, Young Children (July 1994)
“By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, to-day in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be regarded as a bĂȘte noire the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English!”
—Albert Einstein (18791955)