Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/2/a/solution
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2017 2 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For a vacuum electromagnetic wave, the four-wavevector is with and . Its phase can be writtenBecause and transform as Lorentz four-vectors, their contraction is a Lorentz scalar. This proves phase invariance, with the same phase convention in both frames.
For a hypothetical free emission , four-momentum conservation gives . The initial and final electrons have , and . Squaring gives . In the final electron's rest frame, however, for a nonzero future-directed photon. ThusAn external field, another body or a medium can exchange momentum and change this conclusion; those are different systems.
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