light cone

American  

[lahyt kohn] / ˈlaɪt ˌkoʊn /

noun

Astrophysics.

1. a theoretical space-time diagram in three dimensions, represented as a cone, or two cones with one in the past and one in the future, and modeling the space that light from an event or a particle traveling at the speed of light from that event can occupy.

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Etymology

Origin of light cone

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The light cone shone over the car roofs, halfway illuminating them.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 30, 2018

There are three properties of the light cone as determined by the property of its geodesic vector.

From Scientific American • Mar. 22, 2013

Only then would events on earth lie in the future light cone of the event at which the sun went out.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

This cone is called the future light cone of the event.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Its intensity, as well as the shape of the light cone, made him conclude that it was being focused through a powerful lens, or projected by means of a brilliant reflector.

From The Ivory Snuff Box by Kummer, Frederic Arnold