Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/1/b/solution

Use the metric and four-velocity . Its derivative with respect to proper time is the four-acceleration. Since
a purely transverse laboratory acceleration has . With ,
The invariant proper acceleration is the magnitude measured in the instantaneous rest frame, . Consequently,
For longitudinal acceleration the factor is instead multiplying the laboratory acceleration. The distinction matters for circular storage-ring motion, where the acceleration is centripetal and transverse even though its magnitude is nonzero.

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