5 ms·
In any reference frame, light moves one (light) second of distance in one second of time. So the worldline of light should always be at 45 degrees in a minkowsk
by soVeryTired 9y ago
In any reference frame, light moves one (light) second of distance in one second of time. So the worldline of light should always be at 45 degrees in a minkowski diagram (with appropriate units).
Is your issue that, loosely speaking, if you travelled from X to Y at the speed of light, you wouldn't experience any time elapsing as you travel? If so, remember that the Minkowski diagram relates to the observer's reference frame, not the light's reference frame.
- jacobolus 9y agoAlso note that the “light’s reference frame” is not a meaningful concept.
- fjsolwmv 9y agoAIUI, "light has no reference frame" is the same as "light does not experience time" is the same as "light photon teleports from its birthplace (emission) to its death place (absorption), in its own reference frame".
- jacobolus 9y ago“Reference frame” is a way of assigning a coordinate system so as to split spacetime into one dimension of “time” and three dimensions of “space”. Light doesn’t have a reference frame. Light doesn’t experience “space” either. Two points in spacetime along the path of the light are displaced by a “null vector”, i.e. the relativistic magnitude of the displacement is zero.