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Light Cone Boost
Boost transformation for events on the light cone of a given event, with constant ct.
The events on the light cone with constant ct form a circle centered on the ct axis.
The animation shows two views:
- the lower diagram shows a 3D view of the circle of events, as seen from the side.
- the upper diagram is from a point of view above, looking down into the future light cone
(and projected onto the xy plane).
The boost transformation for wave vectors has the same behavior as shown here.
That is, the upper ellipse correctly shows:
- the doppler effect, through the change in the length of the radial lines
- aberration, through the change in direction of the radial lines
For the ellipse in the top view, the ratio of the width to the height is just γ.