Elementary analysis of the special relativistic combination of velocities, Wigner rotation, and Thomas precession
Kane O'Donnell, Matt Visser
备注：
V1: 25 pages, 6 figures; V2: 22 pages, 5 figures. The revised version is shortened and the arguments streamlined. Minor changes in notation and figures. This version matches the published version
The purpose of this paper is to provide an elementary introduction to the qualitative and quantitative results of velocity combination in special relativity, including the Wigner rotation and Thomas precession. We utilize only the most familiar tools of special relativity, in arguments presented at three differing levels: (1) utterly elementary, which will suit a first course in relativity; (2) intermediate, to suit a second course; and (3) advanced, to suit higher level students. We then give a summary of useful results, and suggest further reading in this often obscure field.
We consider a particle dressed with boundary gravitons in three-dimensional Minkowski space. The existence of BMS transformations implies that the particle's wavefunction picks up a Berry phase when subjected to changes of reference frames that trace a closed path in the asymptotic symmetry group. We evaluate this phase and show that, for BMS superrotations, it provides a gravitational generalization of Thomas precession. In principle, such phases are observable signatures of asymptotic symmetries.
It is well known that a sequence of two non-collinear pure Lorentz transformations (boosts) is not a boost again, but involves a spatial rotation, the Wigner or Thomas-Wigner rotation. The formation of this rotation is visually illustrated by moving a Born-rigid object on a closed trajectory in several sections. Within each section the boost's proper time duration is assumed to be the same and the object's centre accelerates uniformly. Born-rigidity implies that the stern of this object accelerates faster than its bow. It is shown that at least five boosts are required to return the object's c…
We consider the reflection of a Dirac plane wave on a perfectly reflecting plane described by chiral MIT boundary conditions and determine the rotation of the spin in the reflected component of the wave. We solve the analogous problem for a classical particle using the evolution of the spin defined by the Thomas precession and make a comparison with the quantum result. We find that the rotation axes of the spin in the two problems coincide only for a vanishing chiral angle, in which case the rotation angles coincide in the nonrelativistic limit, and also remain remarkably close in the relativi…
In $f(R)$ gravity, the metric, presented in the form of the multipole expansion, for the external gravitational field of a spatially compact supported source up to $1/c^3$ order is provided, where $c$ is the velocity of light in vacuum. The metric consists of General Relativity-like part and $f(R)$ part, where the latter is the correction to the former in $f(R)$ gravity. At the leading pole order, the metric can reduce to that for a point-like or ball-like source. For the gyroscope moving around the source without experiencing any torque, the multipole expansions of its spin's angular velociti…
An apparent paradox in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, known as a Thomas precession rotation in atomic physics, has been verified experimentally in a number of ways. However, somewhat surprisingly, it has not yet been demonstrated algebraically in a straightforward manner using Lorentz-matrix-algebra. Authors in the past have resorted instead to computer verifications, or to overly-complicated derivations, leaving undergraduate students in particular with the impression that this is a mysterious and mathematically inaccessible phenomenon. This is surprising because, as shown in the pr…
