reference frame

American  

noun

Physics.

1. frame of reference.

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reference frame Scientific  

/ rĕf′ər-əns /

1. A basis of a four-dimensional coordinate system in which the first coordinate is understood as a time coordinate, while the other three coordinates represent spatial dimensions. Inertial frames and non-inertial frames are both examples of reference frames.

2. Also called frame of reference

3. See also General Relativity space-time Special Relativity

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Etymology

Origin of reference frame

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Spacetime provides a powerful description of how events happen: how they are ordered relative to one another, how sequences of events are measured to unfold and how lengths are measured in different reference frames.

From Science Daily

In the electron's reference frame, the laser intensity appeared to be about 50% of the Schwinger limit, triggering nonlinear QED phenomena.

From Science Daily

However, the notion of continental groupings as a meaningful reference frame for understanding human biological variation persisted.

From Scientific American

For decades, radio astronomers have tracked minute changes in Earth’s surface rotation—the length of a day—against a cosmic reference frame: the fixed position of distant cosmic beacons called quasars.

From Science Magazine

This was achieved by Gaia tracing its movement against the stars, using the "fixed" points of light from very far-away galaxies as a reference frame.

From BBC