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In geometry, the relation of hyperbolic orthogonality between two lines separated by the asymptotes of a hyperbola is a concept used in special relativity to define simultaneous events. Two events will be simultaneous when they are on a line hyperbolically orthogonal to a particular time line. This dependence on a certain time line is determined by velocity, and is the basis for the relativity of simultaneity.


Geometry

Two lines are hyperbolic orthogonal when they are reflections of each other over the asymptote of a given hyperbola. Two particular hyperbolas are frequently used in the plane: The relation of hyperbolic orthogonality actually applies to classes of parallel lines in the plane, where any particular line can represent the class. Thus, for a given hyperbola and asymptote ''A'', a pair of lines (''a'', ''b'') are hyperbolic orthogonal if there is a pair (''c'', ''d'') such that a \rVert c ,\ b \rVert d , and ''c'' is the reflection of ''d'' across ''A''. Similar to the perpendularity of a circle radius to the tangent, a radius to a hyperbola is hyperbolic orthogonal to a tangent to the hyperbola. A
bilinear form In mathematics, a bilinear form is a bilinear map on a vector space (the elements of which are called '' vectors'') over a field ''K'' (the elements of which are called ''scalars''). In other words, a bilinear form is a function that is linear ...
is used to describe orthogonality in analytic geometry, with two elements orthogonal when their bilinear form vanishes. In the plane of complex numbers z_1 =u + iv, \quad z_2 = x + iy, the bilinear form is xu + yv, while in the plane of hyperbolic numbers w_1 = u + jv,\quad w_2 = x +jy, the bilinear form is xu - yv . :The vectors ''z''1 and ''z''2 in the complex number plane, and ''w''1 and ''w''2 in the hyperbolic number plane are said to be respectively ''Euclidean orthogonal'' or ''hyperbolic orthogonal'' if their respective inner products ilinear formsare zero. The bilinear form may be computed as the real part of the complex product of one number with the conjugate of the other. Then :z_1 z_2^* + z_1^* z_2 = 0 entails perpendicularity in the complex plane, while :w_1 w_2^* + w_1^* w_2 = 0 implies the ''ws are hyperbolic orthogonal. The notion of hyperbolic orthogonality arose in
analytic geometry In classical mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry. Analytic geometry is used in physics and engineer ...
in consideration of
conjugate diameters In geometry, two diameters of a conic section are said to be conjugate if each chord parallel to one diameter is bisected by the other diameter. For example, two diameters of a circle are conjugate if and only if they are perpendicular. Of elli ...
of ellipses and hyperbolas. if ''g'' and ''g''′ represent the slopes of the conjugate diameters, then g g' = - \frac in the case of an ellipse and g g' = \frac in the case of a hyperbola. When ''a'' = ''b'' the ellipse is a circle and the conjugate diameters are perpendicular while the hyperbola is rectangular and the conjugate diameters are hyperbolic-orthogonal. In the terminology of projective geometry, the operation of taking the hyperbolic orthogonal line is an involution. Suppose the slope of a vertical line is denoted ∞ so that all lines have a slope in the projectively extended real line. Then whichever hyperbola (A) or (B) is used, the operation is an example of a hyperbolic involution where the asymptote is invariant. Hyperbolically orthogonal lines lie in different sectors of the plane, determined by the asymptotes of the hyperbola, thus the relation of hyperbolic orthogonality is a heterogeneous relation on sets of lines in the plane.


Simultaneity

Since Hermann Minkowski's foundation for spacetime study in 1908, the concept of points in a spacetime plane being hyperbolic-orthogonal to a timeline (tangent to a world line) has been used to define simultaneity of events relative to the timeline. In Minkowski's development the hyperbola of type (B) above is in use. Two vectors (, , , ) and (, , , ) are ''normal'' (meaning hyperbolic orthogonal) when :c^ \ t_1 \ t_2 - x_1 \ x_2 - y_1 \ y_2 - z_1 \ z_2 = 0. When = 1 and the s and s are zero, ≠ 0, ≠ 0, then \frac = \frac. Given a hyperbola with asymptote ''A'', its reflection in ''A'' produces the ''conjugate hyperbola''. Any diameter of the original hyperbola is reflected to a conjugate diameter. The directions indicated by conjugate diameters are taken for space and time axes in relativity. As E. T. Whittaker wrote in 1910, " hehyperbola is unaltered when any pair of conjugate diameters are taken as new axes, and a new unit of length is taken proportional to the length of either of these diameters." E. T. Whittaker (1910)
A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity ''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity'' is any of three books written by British mathematician Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker FRS FRSE on the history of electromagnetic theory, covering the development of classical electromagne ...
Dublin: Longmans, Green and Co. (see page 441)
On this principle of relativity, he then wrote the Lorentz transformation in the modern form using rapidity. Edwin Bidwell Wilson and
Gilbert N. Lewis Gilbert Newton Lewis (October 23 or October 25, 1875 – March 23, 1946) was an American physical chemist and a Dean of the College of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. Lewis was best known for his discovery of the covalent bond a ...
developed the concept within synthetic geometry in 1912. They note "in our plane no pair of perpendicular yperbolic-orthogonallines is better suited to serve as coordinate axes than any other pair"Edwin B. Wilson & Gilbert N. Lewis (1912) "The Space-time Manifold of Relativity. The Non-Euclidean Geometry of Mechanics and Electromagnetics" Proceedings of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
48:387–507, esp. 415


References

*
G. D. Birkhoff George David Birkhoff (March 21, 1884 – November 12, 1944) was an American mathematician best known for what is now called the ergodic theorem. Birkhoff was one of the most important leaders in American mathematics in his generation, and during ...
(1923) ''Relativity and Modern Physics'', pages 62,3, Harvard University Press. * Francesco Catoni, Dino Boccaletti, & Roberto Cannata (2008) ''Mathematics of Minkowski Space'',
Birkhäuser Verlag Birkhäuser was a Swiss publisher founded in 1879 by Emil Birkhäuser. It was acquired by Springer Science+Business Media in 1985. Today it is an imprint used by two companies in unrelated fields: * Springer continues to publish science (partic ...
, Basel. See page 38, Pseudo-orthogonality. * Robert Goldblatt (1987) ''Orthogonality and Spacetime Geometry'', chapter 1: A Trip on Einstein's Train, Universitext Springer-Verlag * {{Relativity Minkowski spacetime Angle