light cone
The 'light cone' is a key concept in special relativity, illustrating how light propagates through spacetime and defines causal relationships between events.
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Definition
C1Special Relativity
(technical, academic)A diagram that shows the possible paths light can take from a single event, separating events that can influence each other from those that cannot.
Example
- In special relativity, the light cone helps us understand which events can be causally connected.
C1Minkowski Spacetime
(technical, academic)A geometric structure that divides spacetime into regions influenced by an event, with light defining the boundary.
Example
- In Minkowski spacetime, the light cone illustrates the separation between past, future, and events that are unreachable.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "light cone":
light wavespeed of lightlight sectorlight yearray of lightwhite lightlaser beamline of sight