I'm working this same problem right now, and have done everything suggested (and then some), but even using maple to integrate I keep getting that the definite integral comes out to approx. 0 - 0 = 0. This is obviously wrong since more than zero energy gets radiated in the visible portion...
Incidentally, yes I was mainly asking the more fundamental question of what's different about the accelerating observer when the situation appears the same to both. In more detail, supposing the twins were just two particles without internal structure and they were the only objects in their...
I'm going to test my understanding by taking a crack at this one... plus I'd already been thinking about this situation some...
Yes, they are the same age, and its not inconsistent because of relative simultaneity. Events happening simultaneously for observers in the galaxies reference frame...
This makes things considerably clearer. I guess its hard to accept the idea that you get different answers depending on who accelerated, when it doesn't work this way for velocity (e.g. if they're traveling apart at constant velocity, each sees the other aging slower). I need to study up more on...
Does this mean that if we aren't told which one accelerated we can't determine which one is will be younger when they meet? For example, if the situation was stated that the distance between them was increasing at 0.8c, and then after the turn around the distance is decreasing by 0.8c, we would...
But it is the acceleration that causes the asymmetry, and it should be indistinguishable who accelerated, so I still don't get why each twin doesn't return being younger than the other (besides that it is impossible).
Is it just that while there is no absolute rest with respect to velocity...
Thanks for the help all. I'm still pondering these answers...
-Matheinste: Sorry but that kind of seems like circular logic. It says that nature favors one observer as having "really" accelerated, while treating the other as having been inertial, when it could have just as easily treated them...
I'm sure this question has been asked thousands of times before, but I can't see how nature determines which twin accelerates (or is subject to a gravitational field) and which one doesn't. People say one twin will feel the acceleration and the other won't, but suppose neither twin had an...