Invariance Definition and 454 Threads

Hello! I saw such interpretation of principle of relativity when I read proof of invariance of infinitesimally small interval: "The second inertial frame of reference looks from the first in no way different from how the first inertial frame of reference looks from the second." Proof of...

Very basic question ... Heard someone say that Noether's theorem talks about, among other things, invariance (under transformation). Further, possibilities were discussed: 1. Invariance in time 2. Invariance in space 3. Conservation of energy (kinetic?) 4. Conservation of mass I forgot...

Hi, I would like to ask for a clarification about the terms time dilation vs differential aging vs gravitational redshit. As far as I can tell, time dilation is nothing but the rate of change of an object's proper time ##\tau## w.r.t. the coordinate time ##t## of a given coordinate chart (aka...

Good morning friends of the Forum. For me it is difficult to geometrically imagine a tensor of order 2 and maybe that is why it is difficult for me to know, what remains invariant when making a change of coordinates of this tensor. The only thing I can think of it, is that since a tensor of...

The Lorentz transformation ensures different inertial observers measure the same speed of light. Are there other transformations, or other ways to setup a "space-time" that also have this property of invariance? Is the Lorentz transformation the unique solution?

According to the virial theorem, $$\left\langle T\right\rangle =-{\frac {1}{2}}\,\sum _{k=1}^{N}{\bigl \langle }\mathbf {F} _{k}\cdot \mathbf {r} _{k}{\bigr \rangle }$$ where ##N## is the number of particles in the system and ##T## is the total kinetic energy. It is often claimed that this...

Preface We know that, in Cartesian Coordinates, $$\nabla f= \frac{\partial f}{\partial x} + \frac{\partial f}{\partial y} + \frac{\partial f}{\partial z}$$ and $$\nabla^2 f= \frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial^2 x} + \frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial^2 y} + \frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial^2 z}$$ Generalizing...

I was reading a discussion where some physicists participated* where the topic of Lorentz invariance violations occurring in cosmology is mentioned. There, they mention that we can imagine a Lorentz-violating solution to the cosmological equations. What do they mean by that? Can anyone specify...

hello Einstein assumed the invariance of the speed of light as an hyphotesis, while I was told that : "The speed of light need not have been postulated as an invariant." in other words the invariance of the speed of light could have been proven even regardless of the special relativity is it...

Hello, I have a problem with the postulate of the invariance of the speed of light. When we move away from a light source it is redshift, it is the sign that the relative velocity between us and the light source has changed. If a stationary observer observes the phenomenon, he will measure that...

Pions are particles with spin 0 and they form an isospin triplet: π+, π0, π− (with the superscript indicating the electric charge). Their intrinsic parity is −1 and they are pseudoscalar mesons. In nature we also find other kind of mesons, like the ρ mesons, ρ+, ρ0 and ρ−. As pions, they also...

Show that the property of asymmetry is invariant under orthogonal similarity transformation

I am stuck deriving the gauge field produced in curved spacetime for a complex scalar field. If the underlying spacetime changes, I would assume it would change the normal Lagrangian and the gauge field in the same way, so at first guess I would say the gauge field remains unchanged. If there...

Hello! I'm starting to study curved QFT and am slightly confused about the invariance of the Klein Gordon Lagrangian under a linear diffeomorphism. This is $$L=\sqrt{-g}\left(g^{\mu\nu}\partial_\mu \phi \partial_\nu \phi-\frac{m^2}{2}\phi^2\right),$$ I don't see how ##g^{\mu\nu}\to...

how does the first step use mean value theorem? I don't get it , can anyone explain , thanks.

If ##\partial_{\alpha} J^{\alpha}(x) = 0## then ##Q \equiv \displaystyle{\int} d^3 x J^t(x)## is time-invariant. To show that if ##J^{\alpha}(x)## is a four-vector then ##Q## is also Lorentz-invariant, he re-writes it as \begin{align*} Q = \int d^4 x J^{\alpha}(x) \partial_{\alpha} H(n_{\beta}...

So Noether's Theorem states that for any invarience that there is an associated conserved quantity being: $$ \frac {\partial L}{\partial \dot{Q}} \frac {\partial Q}{\partial s}$$ Let $$ X \to sx $$ $$\frac {\partial Q}{\partial s} = \frac {\partial X}{\partial s} = \frac {\partial...

I followed a demonstration in one of my electromagnetism books, but it is not clear to me. My problem is at the starting point. The book begins by considering the office defined in the following way: $$Q=\int d^4xJ^\alpha(x)\partial_\alpha\theta(\eta_\beta x^\beta)$$ where...

It can be shown mathematically that the scalar massless wave equation is conformally invariant. However, doing so is rather tedious and muted in terms of physical understanding. As such, is there a physically intuitive explanation as to why the scalar massless wave equation is conformally invariant?

Symmetry transformations in physics can be either passive or active. Symmetries in field theory can be either global or local. But only the local ones, the so called gauge symmetries, are fundamental. Except that local transformations cannot be active (despite the fact that diffeomorphisms are...

Dear all, in my current week of holidays, where all the Corona-dust settles down a bit, I came across some personal notes I made a while ago about the meaning of diffeomorphism invariance, the difference between passive and active coordinate transformations, and the notion of background...

Let me clarify my question, is there any experiment directly proved the invariance of light speed to observers? Let's not get to the argument of equivalence between source and observer. SR was based on the postulate that the light speed is constant and independent of both the motions of source...

I try to use relativistic energy equation: $$E'=\gamma mc^2$$ But, I use $$\gamma=\frac{1}{\sqrt{(1-(\frac{v'}{c})^2}}$$ then I use Lorentz velocity transformation. $$v'=\frac{v-u}{1-\frac{uv}{c^2}}$$ At the end, I end up with messy equation for E' but still have light speed c in the terms. How...

Hello, please lend me your wisdom. ##\Delta u=\partial_{x1}^2u+\partial_{x2}^2u+...+\partial_{xn}^2u## ##Rx=\left<r_{11}x_1+...r_{1n}x_n+...+r_{n1}x_1+...+r_{nn}x_n\right>## ##(\Delta u)(Rx)=(\partial_{x1}^2u+\partial_{x2}^2u+...+\partial_{xn}^2u)\left<r_{11}x_1+...r_{1n}x_n...

I have been reading the book of Chris Quigg, Gauge theories, Chapter 3, sec 3.3 in which he explains how local rotations transform wave function and variations in Schrodinger equation forces us to introduce the electromagnetic interaction between the particles. I need a bit deep concept of the...

I started by inserting ##ds=\sqrt{dx'^{\mu} dx'_{\mu}}## and ##p'^{\mu}=mc \frac{dx'^{\mu}}{ds}##. So we have: $$\frac{dp'^{\mu}}{ds}=mc \frac{d}{dx'^{\mu}} \frac{d}{dx'_{\mu}} (x'^{\mu})$$ Now I know that ##dx'^{\mu}=C_\beta \ ^\mu dx^\beta## and ##dx'_{\mu}=C^\gamma \ _\mu dx_\gamma## where...

In Phillip Harris' (U. Sussex) post on special relativity he includes on p. 45 an algebraic proof of invariance of spacetime intervals. He starts with the definition S^2 =c^t^2 - x^2 -y^2 -z^2, he inserts the Lorentz transform expressions fot t and x, and he does some algebra to show that one...

Show that the Feynman amplitude for Compton scattering ##\mathcal{M} = \mathcal{M}_a + \mathcal{M}_b## is gauge invariant while the individual contributions ##\mathcal{M}_a## and ##\mathcal{M}_b## are not, by considering the gauge transformations $$\varepsilon^{\mu} (\vec k_i) \rightarrow...

Hello, In the plane, using Cartesian coordinates ##x## and ##y##, an equation (or a function) is a relationship between the ##x## and ##y## variables expressed as ##y=f(x)##. The variable ##y## is usually the dependent variable while ##x## is the independent variable. The polar coordinates...

Given that the normal vector cross product is rotational invariant, that is $$\mathbf R(a\times b) = (\mathbf R a)\times(\mathbf R b),$$ where ##a, b \in \mathbb{R}^3## are two arbitrary (column) vectors and ##\mathbf R## is a 3x3 rotation matrix, and given the cross product matrix operator...

Hi, I've read a number of posts here on PF about Einstein's clock synchronization convention. In the context of SR we know the transformation law between inertial frame's coordinates is actually the Lorentz one. The invariant speed for Lorentz transformation is c (actually it coincides with...

In linearized gravity we define the spatial traceless part of our perturbation ##h^{TT}_{ij}##. For some reason this part of the perturbation should be gauge invariant under the transformation $$h^{TT}_{ij} \rightarrow h^{TT}_{ij} - \partial_{i}\xi_{j} - \partial_{j}\xi_{i}$$ Which means that...

We know that Bell States follow the Rotational Invariance property i.e. the probability of results on measurement of two entangled particles do not change if the initial measurement basis (say ##u##) is rotated by an angle θ to a new basis (to say ##v##). Lets take the Bell State ##\psi = \frac...

According to this this the Darboux transformation preserves the discrete spectrum of the Haniltonian in quantum mechanics. Is there a proof for this? My best guess is that it has to do with the fact that $$Q^{\pm}$$ are ladder operators but I'm not sure.

I am reading Sheldon Axler's book: Measure, Integration & Real Analysis ... and I am focused on Chapter 2: Measures ... I need help with the proof of Result 2.7 ... Result 2.7 and its proof read as follows: In the above proof by Axler we read the following: " ... ... Thus ... ##\mid t +...

I am reading Sheldon Axler's book: Measure, Integration & Real Analysis ... and I am focused on Chapter 2: Measures ... I need help with the proof of Result 2.7 ... Result 2.7 and its proof read as follows: In the above proof by Axler we read the following: " ... ... Thus ... $\mid t + A...

I was looking at this video , and I was wondering if a (Riemannian)manifold violates the "lorentz invariance" would it become a discrete manifold?

I'm trying to understand the precise reason we claim that a value being conserved means that the system in question is invariant under the corresponding symmetry transformation. Take parity for example. If the parity operator satisfies the commutation relation ##[P, H] = 0## for a given...

I've recently been starting to get really confused with the meaning of equality in multivariable calculus in general. When we say that the poisson bracket is invariant under a canonical transformation ##q, p \rightarrow Q,P##, what does it actually mean? If the poisson bracket ##[u,v]_{q,p}##...

Hi, I'm trying to check that the QED Lagrangian $$\mathscr{L}=\bar{\psi}\left(i\!\!\not{\!\partial}-m\right)\psi - \frac{1}{4}F^{\mu\nu}F_{\mu\nu} - J^\mu A_\mu$$ is parity invariant, I'm using the general transformations under parity given by $$\psi(x) \rightarrow...

In Hartle's book Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity he spends chapter 2 discussing some basic aspects of differential geometry. For example, he derives the expression for a differential line element in 2D Euclidean space: dS^2 = (dx)^2 + (dy)^2 in Cartesian coordinates...

a) Alright, I think that the trick here is to consider ##\phi^{\dagger}## and ##\phi## as independent scalar fields. I've read that the unitary matrices read as follows $$U = e^{i \epsilon}$$ Thus here we have to consider two separate transformations $$\phi \rightarrow \phi' = e^{i...

Hi, I'm reading some introductory notes about SR and I'm completely stuck at this problem. I imagine I should consider a transformation ##L## such that $$ \hat \epsilon^{\mu \nu \alpha \beta} = L^{\mu}_{\delta}L^{\nu}_{\gamma}L^{\alpha}_{\theta}L^{\beta}_{\psi} \hat \epsilon^{\delta \gamma...

Last day in class, a professor told us that, for a Lagrangian to be Lorentz Invariant, the Lagrangian density cannot have second or higher derivatives. Is this true? Because one can write the KG lagrangian as $$\mathscr{L}=\phi(\square + m^2)\phi,$$ which have second derivatives. And, where...

Hi, I was looking at the so(3,3) Lie algebra which has 3 temporal rotation generators as well as the normal 3 spatial rotation generators. When I try to use Noether's Theorem to determine what the conserved quantity is, due to invariance under temporal rotations, I seem to get an integral where...

I have tried doing the obvious thing and multiplied the vectors and matrices, but I don't see a way to rearrange my result to resemble the initial state again: ##(\mathcal{D_{1y}(\alpha)} \otimes \mathcal{D_{2y}(\alpha)} )|\text{singlet}\rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left[ \begin{pmatrix}...

Gallilean Invariance states that the laws of motion are the same in all inertial frames. One experiment involved being on a ship below deck with no frame of motion reference. Supposedly, there is no experiment which could show whether the ship is moving or in what direction or speed. I was...

of course y and z terms are invariant but for the x and t terms I am getting an additional factor of 1/1-v^2/c^2

Given the schrodinger equation of the form $$-i\hbar\frac{\partial \psi}{\partial t}=-\frac{1}{2m}(-i\hbar \nabla -\frac{q}{c}A)^2+q\phi$$ I can plug in the transformations $$A'=A-\nabla \lambda$$ , $$\phi'=\phi-\frac{\partial \lambda}{\partial t}$$, $$\psi'=e^{-\frac{iq\lambda}{\hbar c}}\psi$$...