No label defined (Q4946737)

This is a nicely written survey about the algebraic structure of the set of relativistically admissible velocities \[ \mathbb{R}^3_c:=\{v\in\mathbb{R}^3\mid|v|<c\},\quad c=\text{speed of light}. \] The Lorentz group \(\mathcal L\) considered as a permutation group of \(\mathbb{R}^4\) can be uniquely written as the product \({\mathcal L}=B\circ D\) where \(D\) is the subgroup of rotations of the space-coordinates \(\mathbb{R}^3\) and \(B\) is the set of boosts. The author sketches the history which led to the discovery of the Thomas rotation and describes the algebraic structure of the boosts (which is isomorphic to the relativistically admissible velocities) and the rôle which plays the Thomas rotation. The references contain a carefully selected list of all essential articles belonging to this subject.