Proper length

For the cosmological notion of proper distance, see Comoving distance.

Proper length[1] or rest length[2] is the length of an object in the object's rest frame.

The measurement of lengths is more complicated in the theory of relativity than in classical mechanics. In classical mechanics, lengths are measured based on the assumption that the locations of all points involved are measured simultaneously. But in the theory of relativity, the notion of simultaneity is dependent on the observer.

A different term, proper distance, provides an invariant measure whose value is the same for all observers.

Proper distance is analogous to proper time. The difference is that the proper distance is defined between two spacelike-separated events (or along a spacelike path), while the proper time is defined between two timelike-separated events (or along a timelike path).

  1. ^ Moses Fayngold (2009). Special Relativity and How it Works. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-3527406074.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Franklin, Jerrold (2010). "Lorentz contraction, Bell's spaceships, and rigid body motion in special relativity". European Journal of Physics. 31 (2): 291–298. arXiv:0906.1919. Bibcode:2010EJPh...31..291F. doi:10.1088/0143-0807/31/2/006. S2CID 18059490.