Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Section B / B4 / Charge density and four-current

Let an object be at rest in $S_0$, with proper charge density ${\rho }_0$ and no rest-frame current. In a frame moving at $\mathbf{v}$ relative to it, the object moves with velocity $-\mathbf{v}$. A simultaneous volume element is Lorentz-contracted along the motion, $dV=d{V}_0/\gamma$, while its charge is invariant. ThereforeThe object's four-velocity in this frame is $U^{\mu }=\gamma (c,-\mathbf{v})$, soA scalar proper density times a Lorentz four-vector transforms as a Lorentz four-vector, demonstrating the claim. With the alternative convention that $\mathbf{v}$ denotes the object's velocity in the observer frame, the spatial component is $+\gamma {\rho }_0\mathbf{v}$ instead. Summing the four-currents of different carrier species preserves this transformation law even when the combined current has no rest frame, as for a lab-neutral current-carrying wire.