Editing World line (section)

{{Short description|Path of an object through spacetime}}
{{Redirect|Worldline|the company|Worldline SA}}
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{{General relativity sidebar |fundamentals}}

The '''world line''' (or '''worldline''') of an object is the [[path (topology)|path]] that an object traces in 4-[[dimension]]al [[spacetime]]. It is an important concept of modern [[physics]], and particularly [[theoretical physics]].

The concept of a "world line" is distinguished from concepts such as an "[[orbit]]" or a "[[trajectory]]" (e.g., a planet's ''orbit in space'' or the ''trajectory'' of a car on a road) by inclusion of the dimension ''time'', and typically encompasses a large area of spacetime wherein paths which are straight [[perception|perceptually]] are rendered as curves in spacetime to show their ([[Principle of relativity|relatively]]) more absolute [[position states]]—to reveal the nature of [[special relativity]] or [[gravitation]]al interactions.

The idea of world lines was originated by [[physics|physicists]] and was pioneered by [[Hermann Minkowski]]. The term is now used most often in the context of relativity theories (i.e., [[special relativity]] and [[general relativity]]).