Geometry of Minkowski Space-Time

This book provides an original introduction to the geometry of Minkowski space-time. A hundred years after the space-time formulation of special relativity by Hermann Minkowski, it is shown that the kinematical consequences of special relativity are merely a manifestation of space-time geometry.The book is written with the intention of providing students (and teachers) of the first years of University courses with a tool which is easy to be applied and allows the solution of any problem of relativistic kinematics at the same time. The book treats in a rigorous way, but using a non-sophisticated mathematics, the Kinematics of Special Relativity. As an example, the famous &quote;Twin Paradox&quote; is completely solved for all kinds of motions.The novelty of the presentation in this book consists in the extensive use of hyperbolic numbers, the simplest extension of complex numbers, for a complete formalization of the kinematics in the Minkowski space-time.Moreover, from this formalization the understanding of gravity comes as a manifestation of curvature of space-time, suggesting new research fields.