Articles by others on the same topic (2)

Lorentz covariance by Codex 0 Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-11-05
Lorentz covariance means that a physical equation retains its form when coordinates and the components of its fields are transformed consistently by a Lorentz transformation. For a four-vector, the component rule is ; derivatives and other fields must transform by their own corresponding rules.
Covariance is not the assertion that every component has the same numerical value in every frame. The four-momentum changes components while its contracted Minkowski norm is invariant. Nor does covariance of a differential equation uniquely choose a solution: initial conditions, boundary conditions and any independent homogeneous solution must also be specified consistently. This distinction is important when translating fields and observables between inertial frames.
Lorentz covariance by Ciro Santilli 40 Updated 2025-07-16
Same motivation as Galilean invariance, but relativistic version of that: we want the laws of physics to have the same form on all inertial frames, so we really want to write them in a way that is Lorentz covariant.
This is just the relativistic version of that which takes the Lorentz transformation into account instead of just the old Galilean transformation.