Why is the number-flux four-vector frame-independent?

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GR191511
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Recently I started studying 《A First Course in General Relativity》 and I came across a question in my book:
##\vec N =n\vec U##where n is number density,U is four-velocity,N is number-flux four-vector .The following sentence confused me:
In Galilean physics,number density was a scalar,the same in all frames(no Lorentz contraction),while flux was quite another thing:a three-vector that was frame dependent,since the velocities of particles are a frame-dependent notion.Our relativistic approach has unified these two notions into a single,frame-independent four-vector...
I wonder Why the number-flux four-vector is frame-independent?
 

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  • #2
malawi_glenn
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All four-vectos are frame independent

You should read page 88 (in the second edition) where it is explained what 'frame independent' means in this case
 
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Ibix
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I wonder Why the number-flux four-vector is frame-independent?
Because it's a four vector. They're frame independent by construction.

I think what you need to do is convince yourself that ##nU^a## actually represents something meaningful, and that it represents something meaningful whether ##U^a## is parallel to your frame's timelike axis or not. The usual way to go about it is to imagine a very large number of particles each with velocity ##U^a##. Then convince yourself that the number of particles crossing an infinitesimal plane depends on the number density ##n## and the velocity field ##U^a##, then convince yourself that the transformation properties of ##U^a## supply the right factors of ##\gamma## so that the transformed flux density behaves as you expect.
 
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Orodruin
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The components of the 4-velocity are still frame dependent even if the 4-velocity itself is an invariant geometric object. This means that also the number density itself is frame dependent in relativity (##n## is the number density in the rest frame and is a scalar) just as the flux, which is number density times velocity just as in Galilean spacetime.
 
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vanhees71
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Yes, and that's why one defines (!) such medium-related "intrinsic" quantities in the local rest frame(s) of the fluid and thus becoming a scalar. That holds also for thermodynamic quantities like temperature or chemical potential.
 
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