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Volume 14: Pages 329-340, 2001

Lorentz Covariance versus Invariance: Deeper Insights

V. Arunasalam

50 Windsor Drive, Princeton Junction, New Jersey 08550 U.S.A.

Deeper insights into the differences between Lorentz covariance and Lorentz invariance are examined in sufficient detail. In essence, Lorentz covariance is a direct consequence of the fullfledged recognition of the space‐time continuum nature of the four‐dimensional world‐space or the Minkowski space in which space and time are treated on equal footing, while Lorentz invariance is a consequence of giving a special role to the time coordinate, as in space‐ and time‐frames, but taking full account of the Lorentz transformation (in contrast with the Galilean transformation). It is shown that two of the necessary consequences of Einstein's demand that all physical laws lend themselves to a manifestly Lorentz‐covariant description are (1) an exact universal PT conservation theorem for uncharged particle systems and (2) an exact universal CPT conservation theorem for charged particle systems. Also examined is the degree of CP or T violation resulting from the expansion of the big‐bang universe and its implications on the cosmic asymmetry between matter and antimatter.

Keywords: Lorentz covariance versus invariance, Lorentz‐covariant theory, Lorentzinvariant theory, universal PT theorem, universal CPT theorem, cosmological matter‐antimatter asymmetry, CP or T violation in moving frames

Received: November 27, 2001; Published online: December 15, 2008