Physical time and physical space in general relativity
Abstract
This paper comments on the physical meaning of the line element in general relativity. We emphasize that, generally speaking, physical spatial and temporal coordinates (those with direct metrical significance) exist only in the immediate neighborhood of a given observer, and that the physical coordinates in different reference frames are related by Lorentz transformations (as in special relativity) even though those frames are accelerating or exist in strong gravitational fields.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- February 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.1607338
- Bibcode:
- 2004AmJPh..72..214C
- Keywords:
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- 01.50.-i;
- 04.20.Cv;
- Educational aids;
- Fundamental problems and general formalism