Printing mistake in A First Course in General Relativity?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on a printing mistake in the 1985 edition of "A First Course in General Relativity" by Schutz, specifically on page 52, equation 2.37. The original equation incorrectly suggests that the spatial momentum of photons is expressed as \(\vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = -E^2 + E^2 = 0\). The correct interpretation involves recognizing that \(\vec{p}\) represents the energy-momentum 4-vector, leading to the correct forms of the equation: \(\vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = E^2\) or \(E^2 - \vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = 0\).

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Rasalhague
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Is is a typo? The 1985 edition of Schutz: A First Course in General Relativity, p. 52, equation 2.37, which is supposed to express the idea that "photons have spatial momentum equal to their energy":

[tex]\vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = -E^2 + E^2 = 0.[/tex]

Shouldn't this be

[tex]\vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = E^2[/tex]

or

[tex]E^2 - \vec{p} \cdot \vec{p} = 0?[/tex]
 
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Oh, sorry, my mistake. I just realized--seconds after posting this!--that he's using the symbol [itex]\vec{p}[/itex] for the energy-momentum 4-vector, rather than for spatial momentum.
 

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