InvarianceoftheIntervaland

ProperTime
 Event
A physical occurrence that marks a suitably
welldefined location in space and instant in
time
A point in spacetime
Coordinates of an event
Needs time and space coordinate
Convention (in 1D space) > (t, x)
 CoordinatesofanEvent
Given by the latticework of synchronized
clocks and measuring sticks
When an event occurs, its location in the grid
and the clock reading is recorded
 CoordinatesofanEvent
In general, the time separation and spatial
separation between two events may not be
the same for the laboratory frame and the
rocket frame
 MeasurementsandSynchronization
Spacetime Coordinates(t,x,y,z)

Origin Event
(0,0) (t,x)
 Example
Two firecrackers situated 400 m apart exploded
500 m of time one after the other according to a
lab frame. A rocket frame observes the
explosions to occur at the same place. Find the
spatial separation of these two events.
 Example

Laboratory Rocket
Frame
Frame
 Spacetime Interval
Thespacetime intervalSIisgivenby

Inspacetime,theintervalisinvariant,i.e.,
 Example
Two firecrackers situated 400 m apart exploded
500 m of time one after the other according to a
lab frame. A rocket frame observes the
explosions to occur at the same place. What is
the time between explosions according to this
rocket frame?
 Example
Two firecrackers situated 400 m apart exploded
500 m of time one after the other according to a
lab frame. A rocket frame observes the
explosions to occur at the same place. What is
the speed of the rocket with respect to the
laboratory?
 Example
A proton moving light speed (wrt laboratory)
enters two detectors 2 meters apart. Events 1
and 2 are the transits through the two
detectors. Find the time and space separation
between the two events according to the (i) lab
frame and (ii) proton frame.
 ProperTime
Time measured by the inertial frame where
two events happen at the same location
Can also be interpreted as the time measured
by an observer that is at rest with respect to
his own inertial frame (his wristwatch time!)
If the two events have no spatial separation in
this inertial frame (e.g. the rocket frame), then
 Example
Two twins have there clocks initially synchronized.
Observer A stays at rest in the lab frame while
Observer B travels from (0, 0) to (5 ly, 13/3 ly) as
observed by A. Calculate the proper time of B as
well as its speed with respect to A.
 Problem
As observed in Alices inertial frame, a rocket in
uniform motion contains a passenger called Bob
(He is stationary in the rocket). Alice measured
that Bob starts at the origin at t = 0.0 and travels
to the right until he reaches x = 4.0 s at t = 5.0 s.
What is the time elapsed according to Bob?