Published November 1, 1987 | Version v1
Journal article Metadata-only

Thomas precession, Wigner rotations and gauge transformations

Creators

  • 1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD (USA). Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 2. Maryland Univ., College Park (USA). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  • 3. Kyungpook National Univ., Taegu (Republic of Korea)

Description

The exact Lorentz kinematics of the Thomas precession is discussed in terms of Wigner's 0(3)-like little group which describes rotations in the Lorentz frame in which the particle is at rest. A Lorentz-covariant form for the Thomas factor is derived. It is shown that this factor is a Lorentz-boosted rotation matrix, which becomes a gauge transformation in the infinite-momentum or zero-mass limit. (author)

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Class. Quantum Gravity
Journal Volume
4
Journal Issue
6
Series
Class. Quantum Gravity.
Journal Page Range
1777-1783
ISSN
0264-9381
CODEN
CQGRD

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
United Kingdom
INIS RN
19019510
Subject category
S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION; ENERGY-MOMENTUM TENSOR; GAUGE INVARIANCE; LORENTZ GROUPS; MASSLESS PARTICLES; O GROUPS; PRECESSION; ROTATION; SPACE-TIME; SYMMETRY
Descriptors DEC
DYNAMICAL GROUPS; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES; LIE GROUPS; POINCARE GROUPS; SYMMETRY GROUPS; TENSORS