Energy and Momentum in Lorentz Transformations

Michael Fowler, University of Virginia

How Does the Total Energy of a Particle Depend on Speed?

We have a formula for the total energy E = K.E. + rest energy,

m0 c 2
E = mc 2 =
1 − v2 / c2

so we can see how total energy varies with speed.

Relativistic Mass Increase

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Mass

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Speed (c = 1)

The momentum varies with speed as

m0 v
p = mv = .
1 − v2 / c2

How Does the Total Energy of a Particle Depend on Momentum?

It turns out to be useful to have a formula for E in terms of p.

Now
m02 c 4
E 2 = m2c 4 =
1 − v2 / c2

so
2

m 2 c 4 (1 − v 2 / c 2 ) = m02 c 4
m 2 c 4 − m 2 v 2 c 2 = m02c 4
m 2 c 4 = E 2 = m02 c 4 + m 2 c 2 v 2

hence using p = mv we find

E = m02 c 4 + c 2 p 2 .

If p is very small, this gives

p2
E ≈ m0 c 2 + ,
2m0
the usual classical formula.

If p is very large, so c2p2 >> m02c4, the approximate formula is E = cp.

Energy/Momentum Curve

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Energy in Units m 0c 2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Momentum (cp )

The High Kinetic Energy Limit: Rest Mass Becomes Unimportant!

Notice that this high energy limit is just the energy-momentum relationship Maxwell
found to be true for light, for all p. This could only be true for all p if m02c4 = 0, that is,
m0 = 0.

Light is in fact composed of “photons”—particles having zero “rest mass”, as we shall

discuss later. The “rest mass” of a photon is meaningless, since they’re never at rest—
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the energy of a photon

m0 c 2
E = mc = 2

1 − v2 / c2

is of the form 0/0, since m0 = 0 and v = c, so “m” can still be nonzero. That is to say, the
mass of a photon is really all K.E. mass.

For very fast electrons, such as those produced in high energy accelerators, the additional
K.E. mass can be thousands of times the rest mass. For these particles, we can neglect
the rest mass and take E = cp.

Transforming Energy and Momentum to a New Frame

We have shown
G
G G m0 v
p = mv =
1 − v2 / c2

G
E = mc 2 = m02 c 4 + c 2 p 2 .

Notice we can write this last equation in the form

G
E 2 − c 2 p 2 = m02 c 4 .

G
That is to say, E 2 − c 2 p 2 depends only on the rest mass of the particle and the speed of
light. It does not depend on the velocity of the particle, so it must be the same—for a
particular particle—in all inertial frames.
G
This is reminiscent of the invariance of x 2 − c 2t 2 , the interval squared between two
events, under the Lorentz transformations. One might guess from this that the laws
governing the transformation from E, p in one Lorentz frame to E′, p′ in another are
similar to those for x,t. We can actually derive the laws for E, p to check this out.

As usual, we consider all velocities to be parallel to the x-axis.

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Velocity u in Frame S
P

Velocity u' in Frame S'

v
O' S' Frame S' moves at v relative to Frame S

O S

We take the frame S' to be moving in the x-direction at speed v relative to S.

Consider a particle of mass m0 (rest mass) moving at u′ in the x′ direction in frame S', and
hence at u along x in S, where

u′ + v
u= .
1 + vu ′ / c 2

The energy and momentum in S' are

m0 c 2 m0u ′
E′ = , p′ =
1 − u′ / c
2 2
1 − u ′2 / c 2

and in S:

m0 c 2 m0u
E= , p= .
1 − u 2 / c2 1 − u 2 / c2

Thus
m0 c 2
E=
2
⎛ u′ + v ⎞
1− ⎜ 2 ⎟
/ c2
⎝ 1 + vu ′ / c ⎠

giving
m0 c 2 (1 + vu ′ / c 2 )
E=
(1 − v 2
/ c 2 )(1 − u ′2 / c 2 )

from which it is easy to show that

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1
E= ( E ′ + vp′ ) .
1 − v2 / c2

Similarly, we can show that

p′ + vE ′ / c 2
p= .
1 − v2 / c2

These are the Lorentz transformations for energy and momentum of a particle—it is easy
to check that

E 2 − c 2 p 2 = E ′2 − c 2 p′2 = m02 c 4 .

Photon Energies in Different Frames

For a zero rest mass particle, such as a photon, E = cp, E2 – c2p2 = 0 in all frames.

Thus
E ′ + vp′ E ′ + vE ′ / c 1+ v / c
E= = = E′ .
1− v / c
2 2
1− v / c
2 2 1− v / c

Since E = cp, E′ = cp′ we also have

1+ v / c
p = p′ .
1− v / c

Notice that the ratios of photon energies in the two frames coincides with the ratio of
photon frequencies found in the Doppler shift. As we shall see when we cover quantum
mechanics, the photon energy is proportional to the frequency, so these two must of
course transform in identical fashion. But it’s interesting to see it come about this way.
Needless to say, relativity gives us no clue on what the constant of proportionality
(Planck’s constant) is: it must be measured experimentally. But the same constant plays
a role in all quantum phenomena, not just those concerned with photons.