Four-momentum

In special relativity, four-momentum is the generalization of the classical three-dimensional momentum to

four-dimensional spacetime. Momentum is a vector in three dimensions; similarly four-momentum is a four-
vector in spacetime. The contravariant four-momentum of a particle with relativistic energy E and three-
momentum p = (p x, p y, p z) = γmv , where v is the particle's three-velocity and γ the Lorentz factor, is

The quantity mv of above is ordinary non-relativistic momentum of the particle and m its rest mass. The four-
momentum is useful in relativistic calculations because it is a Lorentz covariant vector. This means that it is easy
to keep track of how it transforms under Lorentz transformations.

The above definition applies under the coordinate convention that x0 = ct. Some authors use the convention
x0 = t, which yields a modified definition with p0 = E/c2. It is also possible to define covariant four-
momentum p μ where the sign of the energy (or the sign of the three-momentum, depending of the chosen
metric signature) is reversed.

Contents
Minkowski norm
Relation to four-velocity
Derivation
Conservation of four-momentum
Canonical momentum in the presence of an electromagnetic potential
See also
References

Minkowski norm
Calculating the Minkowski norm squared of the four-momentum gives a Lorentz invariant quantity equal (up to
factors of the speed of light c) to the square of the particle's proper mass:

where
is the metric tensor of special relativity with metric signature for definiteness chosen to be (–1, 1, 1, 1). The
negativity of the norm reflects that the momentum is a timelike four-vector for massive particles. The other
choice of signature would flip signs in certain formulas (like for the norm here). This choice is not important,
but once made it must for consistency be kept throughout.

The Minkowski norm is Lorentz invariant, meaning its value is not changed by Lorentz
transformations/boosting into different frames of reference. More generally, for any two four-momenta p and q ,
the quantity p ⋅ q is invariant.

Relation to four-velocity
For a massive particle, the four-momentum is given by the particle's invariant mass m multiplied by the
particle's four-velocity,

where the four-velocity u is

and

is the Lorentz factor (associated with the speed v), c is the speed of light.

Derivation
There are several ways to arrive at the correct expression for four-momentum. One way is to first define the
four-velocity u = dx/dτ and simply define p = mu , being content that it is a four-vector with the correct units
and correct behavior. Another, more satisfactory, approach is to begin with the principle of least action and use
the Lagrangian framework to derive the four-momentum, including the expression for the energy.[1] One may
at once, using the observations detailed below, define four-momentum from the action S . Given that in general
for a closed system with generalized coordinates q i and canonical momenta p i,[2]

it is immediate (recalling x0 = ct, x1 = x, x2 = y, x3 = z and x0 = −x0, x1 = x1, x2 = x2, x3 = x3 in the

present metric convention) that

is a covariant four-vector with the three-vector part being the (negative of) canonical momentum.

Observations
Consider initially a system of one degree of freedom q . In the derivation of the equations of motion from the
action using Hamilton's principle, one finds (generally) in an intermediate stage for the variation of the action,

The assumption is then that the varied paths satisfy δq(t1) = δq(t2) = 0 , from which Lagrange's equations
follow at once. When the equations of motion are known (or simply assumed to be satisfied), one may let go
of the requirement δq(t2) = 0 . In this case the path is assumed to satisfy the equations of motion, and the
action is a function of the upper integration limit δq(t2), but t2 is still fixed. The above equation becomes
with S = S(q), and defining δq(t2) = δq , and letting in more degrees of freedom,

Observing that

one concludes

In a similar fashion, keep endpoints fixed, but let t2 = t vary. This time, the system is allowed to move
through configuration space at "arbitrary speed" or with "more or less energy", the field equations still
assumed to hold and variation can be carried out on the integral, but instead observe

by the fundamental theorem of calculus. Compute using the above expression for canonical momenta,

Now using

where H is the Hamiltonian, leads to, since E = H in the present case,

∂S
Incidentally, using H = H(q, p, t) with p = ∂q in the above equation yields the Hamilton–Jacobi equations.
In this context, S is called Hamilton's principal function.
The action S is given by

where L is the relativistic Lagrangian for a free particle. From this,

glossing over these details,

The variation of the action is

To calculate δds, observe first that δds2 = 2dsδds and that

So

or

and thus

which is just

where the second step employs the field equations du μ/ds = 0 , (δxμ)t = 0 , and (δxμ)t ≡ δxμ as in the
1 2
observations above. Now compare the last three expressions to find

with norm −m2c2, and the famed result for the relativistic energy,
where mr is the now unfashionable relativistic mass, follows. By comparing the expressions for momentum
and energy directly, one has

that holds for massless particles as well. Squaring the expressions for energy and three-momentum and relating
them gives the energy–momentum relation,

Substituting

in the equation for the norm gives the relativistic Hamilton–Jacobi equation,[3]

It is also possible to derive the results from the Lagrangian directly. By definition,[4]

which constitute the standard formulae for canonical momentum and energy of a closed (time-independent
Lagrangian) system. With this approach it is less clear that the energy and momentum are parts of a four-vector.

The energy and the three-momentum are separately conserved quantities for isolated systems in the Lagrangian
framework. Hence four-momentum is conserved as well. More on this below.

More pedestrian approaches include expected behavior in electrodynamics.[5] In this approach, the starting
point is application of Lorentz force law and Newton's second law in the rest frame of the particle. The
transformation properties of the electromagnetic field tensor, including invariance of electric charge, are then
used to transform to the lab frame, and the resulting expression (again Lorentz force law) is interpreted in the
spirit of Newton's second law, leading to the correct expression for the relativistic three- momentum. The
disadvantage, of course, is that it isn't immediately clear that the result applies to all particles, whether charged
or not, and that it doesn't yield the complete four-vector.

It is also possible to avoid electromagnetism and use well tuned experiments of thought involving well-trained
physicists throwing billiard balls, utilizing knowledge of the velocity addition formula and assuming
conservation of momentum.[6][7] This too gives only the three-vector part.

Conservation of four-momentum
As shown above, there are three conservation laws (not independent, the last two imply the first and vice
versa):

The four-momentum p (either covariant or contravariant) is conserved.

The total energy E = p 0c is conserved.
The 3-space momentum is conserved (not to be confused with the classic non-
relativistic momentum ).

Note that the invariant mass of a system of particles may be more than the sum of the particles' rest masses,
since kinetic energy in the system center-of-mass frame and potential energy from forces between the particles
contribute to the invariant mass. As an example, two particles with four-momenta (5 GeV/c, 4 GeV/c, 0, 0) and
(5 GeV/c, −4 GeV/c, 0, 0) each have (rest) mass 3 GeV/c2 separately, but their total mass (the system mass) is
10 GeV/c2 . If these particles were to collide and stick, the mass of the composite object would be 10 GeV/c2 .

One practical application from particle physics of the conservation of the invariant mass involves combining the
four-momenta p A and p B of two daughter particles produced in the decay of a heavier particle with four-
momentum p C to find the mass of the heavier particle. Conservation of four-momentum gives
pCμ = pAμ + pBμ, while the mass M of the heavier particle is given by −PC ⋅ PC = M2c2. By measuring
the energies and three-momenta of the daughter particles, one can reconstruct the invariant mass of the two-
particle system, which must be equal to M. This technique is used, e.g., in experimental searches for Z′ bosons
at high-energy particle colliders, where the Z′ boson would show up as a bump in the invariant mass spectrum
of electron–positron or muon–antimuon pairs.

If the mass of an object does not change, the Minkowski inner product of its four-momentum and
corresponding four-acceleration Aμ is simply zero. The four-acceleration is proportional to the proper time
derivative of the four-momentum divided by the particle's mass, so

Canonical momentum in the presence of an electromagnetic

potential
For a charged particle of charge q , moving in an electromagnetic field given by the electromagnetic four-
potential:
where Φ is the scalar potential and A = (Ax, Ay, Az) the vector potential, the components of the (not gauge-
invariant) canonical momentum four-vector P is

This, in turn, allows the potential energy from the charged particle in an electrostatic potential and the Lorentz
force on the charged particle moving in a magnetic field to be incorporated in a compact way, in relativistic
quantum mechanics.

See also
Four-force
Four-gradient
Pauli–Lubanski pseudovector

References
1. Landau & Lifshitz 2002, pp. 25–29
2. Landau & Lifshitz 1975, pp. 139
3. Landau & Lifshitz 1975, p. 30
4. Landau & Lifshitz 1975, pp. 15–16
5. Sard 1970, Section 3.1
6. Sard 1970, Section 3.2
7. Lewis & Tolman 1909 Wikisource version
Goldstein, Herbert (1980). Classical mechanics (2nd ed.). Reading, Mass.: Addison–Wesley
Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0201029185.
Landau, L. D.; Lifshitz, E. M. (1975) [1939]. Mechanics. Translated from Russian by J. B. Sykes
and J. S. Bell. (3rd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7506-28969.
Landau, L.D.; Lifshitz, E.M. (2000). The classical theory of fields. 4th rev. English edition,
reprinted with corrections; translated from the Russian by Morton Hamermesh. Oxford:
Butterworth Heinemann. ISBN 9780750627689.
Rindler, Wolfgang (1991). Introduction to Special Relativity (https://archive.org/details/introductio
ntosp0000rind) (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-853952-0.
Sard, R. D. (1970). Relativistic Mechanics - Special Relativity and Classical Particle Dynamics
(https://archive.org/details/relativisticmech0000sard). New York: W. A. Benjamin. ISBN 978-
0805384918.
Lewis, G. N.; Tolman, R. C. (1909). "The Principle of Relativity, and Non-Newtonian Mechanics"
(https://zenodo.org/record/1430872). Phil. Mag. 6. 18 (106): 510–523.
doi:10.1080/14786441008636725 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14786441008636725).
Wikisource version

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