Yes, objects can approach the speed of light as close as you want and time for that object will slow down according to the Inertial Reference Frame (IRF) in which you are specifying the speeds, a clock traveling with that object will tick more slowly than the Coordinate Time of the IRF. Note that we define time by what a clock measures.RaptorHunter said:It's my understanding (I might be talking senescence) that as an object approaches the speed of lights time starts to slow down,
But no object (including a clock) can approach and achieve the speed of light so your understanding is flawed on this point. Since no clock can travel at the speed of light, time is not defined at the speed of light. It's not that time has slowed to a stop at the speed of light, it's that time is meaningless (without a definition) at the speed of light.RaptorHunter said:and if it achieves the speed of light time would stop.
Since you can't build a clock out of just photons, the answer would have to be "no". But I would rather say that time does not apply to photons. You can establish the time it takes for photons to travel from point A to point B according to a particular Inertial Reference Frame (IRF) but that time can be different in another IRF because the distance between those two points can be different in different IRF's and the speed of light is the same in all IRF's.RaptorHunter said:Do photons experience time?
DaleSpam said:I am not sure if it is appropriate to call that quantity "proper time" any more.
This is a commonly asked question in the field of physics. The simple answer is no, photons do not experience time in the same way that we do. This is because photons are massless particles that travel at the speed of light, which means they experience time dilation. This means that time appears to stand still for photons, as they are always moving at the speed of light and therefore do not age.
As mentioned before, time is affected by the speed of light due to time dilation. This phenomenon occurs because the faster an object moves, the slower time appears to pass for that object. Since photons travel at the speed of light, time appears to stand still for them. This is a fundamental principle of Einstein's theory of relativity and has been confirmed through various experiments.
Another frequently asked question is whether photons can travel through time. The answer to this is both yes and no. While photons do not experience time in the same way as we do, they do travel through time at the speed of light. However, they cannot travel backwards in time as this would violate the laws of physics.
Since photons travel at the speed of light, they do not experience time in a vacuum. This is because time dilation occurs at extremely high speeds, such as that of light, and in a vacuum, there is no resistance or friction to slow down the speed of light. Therefore, photons do not experience time in a vacuum and are essentially frozen in time.
Since photons do not experience time in the same way as we do, they do not have a lifespan in the traditional sense. However, they can be absorbed or scattered by matter, which can alter their path and potentially lead to their destruction. In this sense, photons can be said to have a lifespan, but it is not the same as the lifespan of living organisms.