Mathematically scalars and vectors are the first two members of a hierarchy of entities, called tensors, that behave under coordinate transformations. The use of the tensor notation provides a compact...Mathematically scalars and vectors are the first two members of a hierarchy of entities, called tensors, that behave under coordinate transformations. The use of the tensor notation provides a compact and elegant way to handle transformations in physics.
We now have enough machinery to be able to calculate quite a bit of interesting physics, and to be sure that the results are actually meaningful in a relativistic context. The strategy is to identify ...We now have enough machinery to be able to calculate quite a bit of interesting physics, and to be sure that the results are actually meaningful in a relativistic context. The strategy is to identify relativistic quantities that behave as Lorentz scalars and Lorentz vectors, and then combine them in various ways. The notion of a tensor has been introduced earlier. A Lorentz scalar is a tensor of rank 0, and a Lorentz vector is a rank-1 tensor.
