Minkowskilike

Minkowskilike refers to geometric or physical structures that resemble Minkowski space, the flat four‑dimensional spacetime of special relativity. In this sense, a Minkowskilike space carries the same Lorentzian metric signature as Minkowski space and is locally indistinguishable from it. The term is often used to describe spacetimes that are flat or locally flat, so that at small scales the laws of special relativity apply.

In mathematical terms, a Minkowskilike spacetime is one that is locally isometric to Minkowski space, or has vanishing curvature in a neighborhood. It may, however, differ globally from Minkowski space through nontrivial topology or global identifications, meaning it is not globally identical to flat spacetime. The distinction between local and global structure is important in general relativity, where the equivalence principle guarantees local Minkowskian structure but curvature can arise on larger scales.

Examples include Minkowski space itself, and flat spacetimes obtained by factoring Minkowski space by a spacelike isometry. More generally, the term is used in discussions of Lorentzian geometry to describe manifolds that are locally modeled on Minkowski space. In practice, Minkowskilike approximations underpin local inertial frames, near-origin expansions, and the treatment of physics in weak gravitational fields.

See also: Minkowski space, Lorentzian geometry, locally inertial frame, flat spacetime, pseudo-Riemannian manifold.