Abstract
Space-time is divided into several regions split by the light-cone into domains: within the light-cone we have a) The future domain we can influence by our actions; that is, where we could send information to or even travel to; and b) the past domain which has influenced our present state. Outside the light-cone we have the acausal domain that we cannot communicate with at this instant in time. The light-cone coordinates are introduced as a mathematical tool that relates to the space-time division.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rafelski, J. (2017). The Light-Cone. In: Relativity Matters. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51231-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51231-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51230-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51231-0
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)