My physics assignment lead me here...
 

I was googling this
http://universe-review.ca/I15-53-specialrelativity.jpg
And found this forum as well!


My physics class has been discussing and investigating light cones, keyword being tilted (which brought me to this forum)..All this spacetime according to Galileo... I'm trying to get my head around light cones being the cone that extends into timespace in front and behind any event..arugh This place looks to be an excellant diversion. Roll on summer I can't stand this last week of feeding us fodder to muse on during our freedom from school.

and hello..I'm jack. Glad to be here!:thumbsup:

Welcome Jack!

At least you know how you got here, I honestly don't remember how I first found this place, but I like it here.

Have fun with the light cones!

You clicked a link on fark to the tittie board.

I don't understand why it's conical and not linear? Wouldn't the advancement of time cause the light at the current time to always be in a linear translation from the previous time? In that case, the light cone is only useful for talking about DURING motion, not at actual finite states..?

It's good to have you here. Please enjoy!

There is a string theory somewhere..but an excellant point! In fact I will be sure to bring that up in class! I would love to see my teacher try to explain that one while frantically referring to his notes.

Thanks for the welcome..there's alot of good topics to keep me from my studies..two more weeks and FREEDOM!!!:thumbsup:

all roads lead to rome i mean the TFP...

welcome!

Well, it is linear, it's just in three dimensions. Take a diagonal line and spin it around it's axis, and you get a cone.

Imagine a two dimentional universe. When an event occurs, there will be a circular area within which that event can be the cause of another event. That circle is the maximum distance light could have travelled in any direction in a given amount of time. As time passes, that circular area will grow. Now imagine that the temporal dimention in this 2D universe is mapped onto our third spacial dimention. Instead of an expanding circle, you now have a cone.

Now take the same concept with our 3D universe and an expanding sphere instead of an expanding circle. You get a 4D "cone".