yoelhalb said:
But anyway isn't it possible that both are encountering g-force?.
Let's take an example, two twins A and B, A takes of with a rocket while in the same time B accelerates in its car on a road to his house, later the rocket turns around but in the same time his brother on Earth also made a u-turn, now when they reunite who is younger?.
(here both are claiming that the other one has moved and that he did only local acceleration or rotation, if you are for example now rotating on your axis do you start traveling?).
JesseM said:
If both have changing velocity, then if you know each one's speed as a function of time v(t) in some inertial frame, and you know the times t0 and t1 when they departed from one another and then reunited, you can calculate how much each one ages between meetings using the integral:
\int_{t_0}^{t_1} \sqrt{1 - v(t)^2/c^2} \, dt
SR says that if an object is traveling at constant speed v for a time interval of \Delta t, then the object will age by \Delta t \sqrt{1 - v^2/c^2} during that time interval (the time dilation formula), so if you're familiar with the basic idea of integrals in calculus you can see this one is essentially breaking up the path into a bunch of "infinitesimal" time intervals with length dt and calculating the sum of the aging on each one.
Let me explain myself again.
There is a known paradox called the twin paradox, and there is basically two answers on it, 1) that the subject moving must rotate in order to get back, 2) that the subject has to accelerate and decelerate when starting and ending the motion.
We have to understand the answers, since even if you rotate now on your axis it does not causes you any motion and you will not start to move to the moon, and the same is with acceleration.
I also don't believe that two persons in linear motion, none of them may turn their head for a while, and if one of them is doing so he can no longer claim resting, obviously this doesn't make sense.
I have two ways to interpret the answers, let's take a look on both ways.
But first let me define the situation as I view it.
A takes up in a rocket accelerating, then he stops accelerating and continues in linear motion,
after a while he makes a u-turn and then continues with linear motion till he is getting close to earth, and he decelerates till he is coming to full stop.
Now let us see both ways to interpret the answers why A must be the one who is younger.
i) That since the twin in motion is anyway younger just because of the acceleration and rotation then we already know that he is younger, even if we should agree that in the time he was in uniform motion he might claim rest, since the period of time that he spent accelerating and decelerating and rotating outweighs the uniform motion.
However I don't think this is right, consider if the acceleration and rotation took only five minutes, and the uniform motion took thousands of years.
ii) That since that as soon that he rotated the gap between A and B started to decrease, then in evidence based science it clearly shows that A (in the rocket) is the one who is moving and the other twin is at rest, (and similar to that we can explain with acceleration).
So now my question is, since rotation does not mean any motion and here we claim to move only because in this case the rotation had proved that he moves, so what if both are rotating in the same second, now there is no longer any evidence who of then caused the gap to decrease, and if one of them or both of them.
This was my original question, and I don't see how your answer relates to this.
But anyway if my interpretation of the answers on the twin paradox is right, then CONGRATULATIONS! welcome to experiment based science where every object has to rotate in order to see if he is actually at rest.
Yet this will not work in cases where the motion is due to external forces such as the wind or water, but since we already saw that uniform motion might still be proved moving, we have no reason to say here differently, and we actually might come up with an experiment that will suite external forces as well.
By the way I am still not understanding the twin paradox answer that claims that because of acceleration A must be younger.
My question on that is, is it possible to be in uniform motion without acceleration or no?.
If it is possible, (actually if it is a constant very small acceleration, it can be neglected to 0 just as we do with gravity), then why can't A also do the same and be in uniform motion without acceleration?.
And if it is not possible, then how can uniform motion and the principle of relativity be for real? is it just a science fiction?.
JesseM said:
The condition needed for SR to work approximately is not that "g-force" becomes small (even in SR an accelerating observer experiences G-force, and in GR an observer in freefall experiences no G-force), it's that
tidal forces become small (the article on the
equivalence principle I gave you has an animated diagram at the bottom showing one example of tidal force: the fact that two objects dropped straight 'down' on what seem to be parallel paths will nevertheless get closer together over time). The extent to which tidal forces are measurable depends both on the spatial size of the region you're looking at, and the window of time in which you make your measurements (i.e. the total 'size' of the region of spacetime on which the measurements are made), even with weak curvature the effects are more easily measurable if you expand the spatial or temporal extent of your measurements. As for "what if the universe expands to trillion times larger", that would just mean that if you want to talk about a situation where one twin circumnavigates the entire universe, the size of the spacetime region covering his entire path would have to become about a trillion times larger too. Again think of the analogy with geometry on a sphere--to see departures from Euclidean rules on a patch of the sphere, what matters is not the absolute size of the patch, but rather the
proportion of the sphere's entire surface taken up by the patch.
Can you explain me why?, since the principle of relativity says that there is no absolute point of reference and any object can claim rest and that every one else is moving, then what is different curved motion then linear motion?, both of them can still claim rest and claim that the other one is the one who moves with the curved motion.
If the condition would be that there should no g-force I Would be able to understand, take for example an accelerating object claiming to at rest and every body else accelerating, then he is actually predicting that he should not feel any g-force while every body should, and since this does not agree with observation then he is clearly disproved.
(Although I still do not understand, since if there is no absolute point of reference then how can he actually be wrong?).
But if the condition for SR is no tidal-force then why can't he be resting?.
Actually if we deal with a small region only, I would not considered the twin paradox to be a real question, and since I am seeing it is I think that it contradicts what you are writing here.
Also I have another question, since an accelerating object cannot claim to be at rest, since as I already explained this goes against observation since he feels g-force and nobody else feels, so we need to have some point of reference.
And since we cannot claim a specific point of reference for an accelerating object, since that if we are to claim that and since the accelerating object have proof for that - as he is experiencing g-force -, then our only option is to say that all inertial frames of reference are equally valid for that.
But now as you claim that there is almost no inertial frame of reference, so then what is the frame of reference for an accelerating object.
Even more the question applies anywhere and everywhere, since gravity is actually acceleration and every object under gravity is accelerating, (yet we might rest on the Earth but Earth itself together with all objects must also be accelerating), and as such every object in the current universe needs a point of reference but there is nothing.
Actually you cannot even use an inertial frame in a small region of spacetime as the point of reference, since after all there is gravity even if it is vary week, and as such the object claiming to be be in an inertial state is actually moving even though the motion is vary small.
So we are actually back on the same place that we were before relativity.
JesseM said:
But in relativity there is no way to say "A < B" or "B < A" in an
absolute way unless you are comparing ages at a single point in spacetime--if you're not, then you can only compare their ages in a frame-dependent way. There is no contradiction between the statement "in B's rest frame, A < B" and the statement "in A's rest frame, B < A", the two frames just define simultaneity differently. Again think of geometry--if we have a wall with two dots A and B on it, and you and I both use chalk to draw a different set of x-y coordinate axes on the wall, with your x-y axes rotated relative to mine, then there is no contradiction in the statement "in my coordinate system, A has a smaller y-coordinate than B" and "in your coordinate system, B has a smaller y-coordinate than A". Well, in relativity time is treated a lot like another spatial direction, one frame can have a time axis rotated relative to the other, so we can say "in frame #1, event A has a smaller t-coordinate than B" and "in frame #2, event B has a smaller t-coordinate than A".
Now you're getting metaphysical! Like I said, relativity treats time much like a spatial dimension, "past" just means "at an earlier time-coordinate", so different frames can disagree about whether an event B lies in the "past" of event A or not. Of course, because of the finite speed of light, judgments about time-coordinates of events off my own worldline can only be made in retrospect anyway--for example, if in 2010 I see the light from an event A at a position 8 light-years away in my frame, and in 2012 I see the light from an event B at a position 10 light-years away in my frame, I can say that in my frame they both happened "simultaneously" in 2002 even though I wasn't aware of them until later. Someone in a different frame who also subtracts the distance in light-years from the time in years when he saw them may conclude that A happened in the past of B, and someone in a third frame may conclude B happened in the past of A, but none of us were aware of them until they were both in our own past (i.e. our own past
light cone...and if an event X lies in the past light cone of another event Y, then in that case all inertial frames do agree that X happened in the past of Y).
As a metaphysical hypothesis you are free to believe that one frame's definition of simultaneity is "correct" in a metaphysical sense and the other frames' definitions are "incorrect". However, as long as all the fundamental laws of physics obey Lorentz-symmetric equations, so the equations in one inertial frame are the same as in any other, then any experiment you do that's confined to a windowless chamber (so you don't have any external landmarks to look at) will give the same results regardless of whether you are at rest in inertial frame #1 or inertial frame #2, so there's no
experimental reason to pick out anyone frame as "preferred" by the laws of nature, and thus it must forever remain a mystery to you which frame is "metaphysically preferred" in the sense that its definition of simultaneity is metaphysically correct. Philosophically I think it's lot simpler to apply razor[/url] and eliminate the notion of a "true" definition of simultaneity, instead adopting an
eternalist philosophy of time where events at all points in time are equally "real", but if you prefer the
presentist philosophy of time where there is an absolute present and events not in the present have objectively "ceased to exist", nothing in relativity will contradict you as long as it's a purely metaphysical hypothesis without any physical implications about the results of actual experiments.
I will try to explain again my question and I hope you will understand it.
What I understand from your words is that two different frames have two different time coordinates that don't have to correspond to each other.
Now what I ask is, for any point in the time coordinate of A, is there a corresponding coordinate of B's time frame?
If there is, then let's take the value of B's clock on that particular event and compare it to the corresponding time event in A.
And if there is no corresponding event, so there is actually no relation at all between the frames, then how can they coexist in the universe? and how did they meet together on the first hand?, since there is no corresponding event between the frames.
(Think about what I am asking, thanks).
Here is another way to look at it, current research with quantum mechanics show that it possible to send information via quantum mechanics instantaneously over the entire universe even faster then the speed of light.
This is done by splitting a particle, and it dates back to an argument between Einstein and Bohr on quantum mechanics, based on a thought experiment on a particle that has been split.
Now if this technology succeeds, we can use it to get the twins current age, then who of them will be younger?.
Also according to what I have written earlier, that acceleration means absolute motion, so an accelerating object cannot use its own frame to consider what is simultaneous, so which frame do he have to use?.
JesseM said:
I don't understand what you mean here. If the guy is accelerating, then the rate at which his clock is running will be constantly changing, since the rate a clock ticks is a function of the clock's speed and acceleration means his speed is changing. My diagrams on the other thread show how, since the two rows of clocks A and B are moving at constant speed relative to one another, each individual clock in A (like the one with the red hand) is running slow as measured by the clocks in B, and each individual clock in B is running slow as measured by the clocks in A. There's no paradox there once you take into account the relativity of simultaneity.
I don't know so well the formulas, but I believe that if an object A accelerates with a constant acceleration, and started with a velocity of 0, then it should be easy to figure out at any time how much A's clock slowed down since he started accelerating based on A's current velocity.
If this is true we can use this to synchronize the clocks over the entire universe, and also to figure out what the clock of the twin shows even if the two twins will never meet.
JesseM said:
Basically, he picked it so that the laws of electromagnetism could work in every inertial frame as opposed to just a preferred "ether" frame (since Maxwell's laws say that electromagnetic waves always move at c, but the only way for different frames to agree that all electromagnetic waves move at the same speed is for them to have different definitions of simultaneity, as shown for example by the train thought-experiment). In part he may have been inspired by the failure of various experiments (like the Michelson-Morley experiment) to find a preferred ether frame, and subsequent experiments have consistently supported the idea that the fundamental laws of physics obey Lorentz-invariant equations.
So according to what you write he had not succeeded anyway, since SR is possible only on a small scale, and I don't believe this this is what he tried to answer, (unless we say that Einstein actually forgot that there should be gravity all around).
BUT HERE I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE DIRECT PROOF AGAINST THE PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY.
And I am very interested to see if there is an answer on that.
A) Light experiment --
Here is an experiment that can prove directly who is moving, even without any clocks.
Consider we have a laser beam and a mirror just against it, so it should reflect the light, like this,
___ (mirror)
. (light)
(I am using a laser beam since it always goes straight, but you can use regular light as long you have a way that the mirror should only detect the light that goes in a straight line upwards and not diagonal).
The mirror and the light should be far away so that light should take some time before it arrives at the mirror, (maybe it can't be done with current technology but it will surely be one day).
Now let's consider this arrangement is on ship (or similar) and is moving in a uniform motion.
Now if the ship moves, then the light will never get to the mirror (assuming the ship is moving with an appropriate speed), since the mirror has been moved away from the laser beam that is going straight only.
So if the light arrives at the mirror then every body most agree that it is at rest, and if the light does not arrive then it is clear then it is moving, and no debate on that.
(You can actually make a joint experiment, in which two objects in uniform motion according to each other, are using the same laser beam to see to which mirror of them it will arrive).
B) Constant speed of light --
According to the special relativity it follows that the speed of light will not always be constant, listen why.
Assume A and B move away with a uniform motion and a light ray (L) goes to right of them,
A<------->B<------------>L
A claims that he is at rest and B's time slows down, that's fine.
But B claims that he is at rest, and if so A clearly sees the light more then c.
(You might want to resort to the velocity formula, but it cannot work here as you shall see).
Let's assume for a moment that the time of B and of A will stay the same (and we will ignore for a moment time dilation), in other words t
B = t
A.
Now we can use simple addition to add the velocities because, V
1 = s
1/t and V
2 = s
2 /t, so you can just add both velocities.
Now if we add the velocity that A moves ( from B's perspective ) together with c the speed of light, we clearly get more then the speed of light, and in other words from B's perspective A sees the light to go faster then the speed of light, some thing that is impossible according to special relativity.
And since according to B, A's clock will slow down, the situation will get even worse, since that means that according to B, A will see the light moving even faster.
(The velocity formula however might still work when both velocities are in the same direction).
Since this cannot be true this actually shows that B cannot claim to be the point of reference (or you might claim that B does not have to explain how A sees the light, but if say this then you can let go the whole time dilation which is based only on how one frame of reference sees the light according to the other frame of reference).
(you can also not invent that B will claim A's clock to go faster, because then there will be a problem when the light is going to the left).