Related papers: The language of Einstein spoken by optical instrum…
While the Lorentz group serves as the basic language for Einstein's special theory of relativity, it is turning out to be the basic mathematical instrument in optical sciences, particularly in ray optics and polarization optics. The beam…
It has been almost one hundred years since Einstein formulated his special theory of relativity in 1905. He showed that the basic space-time symmetry is dictated by the Lorentz group. It is shown that this group of Lorentz transformations…
The Lorentz group is the fundamental language for space-time symmetries of relativistic particles. This group can these days be derived from the symmetries observed in other branches of physics. It is shown that this group can be derived…
Two-photon states produce enough symmetry needed for Dirac's construction of the two-oscillator system which produces the Lie algebra for the O(3,2) space-time symmetry. This O(3,2) group can be contracted to the inhomogeneous Lorentz group…
According to Eugene Wigner, quantum mechanics is a physics of Fourier transformations, and special relativity is a physics of Lorentz transformations. Since two-by-two matrices with unit determinant form the group SL(2,c) which acts as the…
With its three independent parameters, the $ABCD$ matrix serves as the beam transfer matrix in optics. If it is transformed to an equi-diagonal form, the matrix has only two independent parameters determined by optical devices. It is shown…
Henri Poincar\'e formulated the mathematics of Lorentz transformations, known as the Poincar\'e group. He also formulated the Poincar\'e sphere for polarization optics. It is shown that these two mathematical instruments can be derived from…
Among the symmetries in physics, the rotation symmetry is most familiar to us. It is known that the spherical harmonics serve useful purposes when the world is rotated. Squeeze transformations are also becoming more prominent in physics,…
It is shown that the one-lens system in para-axial optics can serve as an optical computer for contraction of Wigner's little groups and an analogue computer which transforms analytically computations on a spherical surface to those on a…
It is shown that the Lorentz group plays prominent roles in at least two areas in condensed matter physics, namely in the Bogoliubov transformation and optical filters. It is pointed out that the underlying symmetry of the Bogoliubov…
R. P. Feynman was quite fond of inventing new physics. It is shown that some of his physical ideas can be supported by the mathematical instruments available from the Lorentz group. As a consequence, it is possible to construct a…
When Einstein formulated his special relativity, he developed his dynamics for point particles. Of course, many valiant efforts have been made to extend his relativity to rigid bodies, but this subject is forgotten in history. This is…
Henri Poincar\'e formulated the mathematics of the Lorentz transformations, known as the Poincar\'e group. He also formulated the Poincar\'e sphere for polarization optics. It is shown that these two mathematical instruments can be combined…
The second-order differential equation describes harmonic oscillators, as well as currents in LCR circuits. This allows us to study oscillator systems by constructing electronic circuits. Likewise, one set of closed commutation relations…
If Einstein's photon is $E = cp = \hbar\omega$, Wigner's photon is its helicity which is a Lorentz-invariant concept coming from the E(2)-like little group for massless particles. In addition, the E(2)-like little group has two…
It is shown that the two-by-two Jones-matrix formalism for polarization optics is a six-parameter two-by-two representation of the Lorentz group. The attenuation and phase-shift filters are represented respectively by the three-parameter…
Elementary methods are used to examine some nontrivial mathematical issues underpinning the Lorentz transformation. Its eigen-system is characterized through the exponential of a $G$-skew symmetric matrix, underlining its unconnectedness at…
Einstein's photo-electric effect allows us to regard electromagnetic waves as massless particles. Then, how is the photon helicity translated into the electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the direction of propagation? This is an…
Henri Poincar\'e formulated the mathematics of the Lorentz transformations, known as the Poincar\'e group. He also formulated the Poincar\'e sphere for polarization optics. It is noted that his sphere contains the symmetry of the Lorentz…
One hundred years ago, in 1908, Hermann Minkowski completed his proof that Maxwell's equations are covariant under Lorentz transformations. During this process, he introduced a four-dimensional space called the Minkowskian space. In 1949,…