Beta (velocity)

β in special relativity is the velocity, v, of an object relative to the speed of light c:[1]

${\textstyle \beta ={\frac {v}{c}}}$

It is less commonly referred to as the Jackson Number.

β is dimensionless and equal to the velocity in natural units. Any expression which involves v, like the Lorentz factor, can be rewritten using β instead. See the Lorentz transformation.

References

Zangwill, Andrew (2012). Modern Electrodynamics. Cambridge University Press. p. 828. ISBN 9780521896979.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.