2000/12/31 by J. H. Field
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algebraic and Geometric Analysis #Classical electromagnetism #Electromagnetism #Homogeneity (statistics) #Lorentz transformation #Principle of relativity #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Special relativity #Symmetry (geometry) #Test theories of special relativity #Theory of relativity #physics.class-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1119/1.1344165
published as Am. J. Phys. 69 (2001) 569-575. · 16 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2001/01/10 · openalex publication_date 2001/05/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Special relativity is reformulated as a symmetry property of space-time: space-time exchange invariance. The additional hypothesis of spatial homogeneity is then sufficient to derive the Lorentz transformation without reference to the traditional form of the Principle of Special Relativity. The kinematical version of the latter is shown to be a consequence of the Lorentz transformation. As a dynamical application, the laws of electrodynamics and magnetodynamics are derived from those of electrostatics and magnetostatics respectively. The four-vector nature of the electromagnetic potential plays a crucial role in the last two derivations.