reference frame

noun

Physics.

1. frame of reference.

reference frame

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of reference frame¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

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

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

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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.

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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.

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It was the basis of a brand-new celestial reference frame, a fixed, imaginary grid against which everything else moves, akin to lines of latitude and longitude on Earth.

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