- #1
kmarinas86
- 979
- 1
Let's say I have a Gaussian sphere 1 light year across with synchronized clocks and sensors all over its surface. All clocks are co-moving, not accelerating, and the spatial curvature is negligible. If I have only one charge inside the Gaussian sphere, 1 centimeter from its surface for an entire year, then the integral of the electric field intensity over the surface of that sphere, multiplied by the electric permittivity of free space, should return the value of the single charge. The problem is this: If move the charge out of that sphere and then stop it 1 centimeter outside of it, the electric field at the other side of the sphere does not "update" until nearly 1 year later. I end up with a non-zero integral for electric flux even though the charge is not inside the sphere.
Let's say the sensors record the electric field as a function of time and time stamp it using the synchronized clock data. In about two years, an observer at the place where the electron crossed the sphere will be able to pick up the readings and time stamp information about the measured electric field. That observer would conclude that the readings measured for the electric field on the surface as the charge was displaced from inside to outside the sphere was not a constant.
Simultaneity should not be an issue here because all the clocks and sensors share the same inertial frame, and thus are at relative "rest" with respect to one another. The only thing moving here is the charge and the body outside the sphere acting upon it. There is not a whole lot of velocity required, nor a whole lot of time, to make the charge move 2 centimeters. Therefore, no relativistic effects would apply to any appreciable magnitude.
Let's say the sensors record the electric field as a function of time and time stamp it using the synchronized clock data. In about two years, an observer at the place where the electron crossed the sphere will be able to pick up the readings and time stamp information about the measured electric field. That observer would conclude that the readings measured for the electric field on the surface as the charge was displaced from inside to outside the sphere was not a constant.
Simultaneity should not be an issue here because all the clocks and sensors share the same inertial frame, and thus are at relative "rest" with respect to one another. The only thing moving here is the charge and the body outside the sphere acting upon it. There is not a whole lot of velocity required, nor a whole lot of time, to make the charge move 2 centimeters. Therefore, no relativistic effects would apply to any appreciable magnitude.
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