Does the Planck Length Experience Length Contraction at High Speeds?

windy miller
Messages
306
Reaction score
28
Imagine I had a ruler 1 Planck length long, I then send it on a rocket close to the speed of light, does its length contract? It seems to my simple intuition, relativity would say yes and Qm would say no. Is there a simple solution to this ?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
windy miller said:
Imagine I had a ruler 1 Planck length long, I then send it on a rocket close to the speed of light, does its length contract? It seems to my simple intuition, relativity would say yes and Qm would say no. Is there a simple solution to this ?
I don't think making the ruler that short is likely to make a difference. Special relativity and quantum mechanics are perfectly compatible (via Quantum Field Theory). There would be length contraction, regardless of the physical size of the ruler.
 
(1) The Plank length is just a made-up human measure of distance and has no effect on physics. You might as well be asking if a meter stick would be subject to length contraction

(2) You WOULD have a problem since as far as is known, you could not construct a ruler that is one Plank unit long.

(3) All of that is moot anyway since your question implies that you think length contraction is something that happens to an object, but it isn't. It is an observation by someone in a frame of reference that is moving relative to the object.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Mlesnita Daniel, windy miller, Frimus and 1 other person

Similar threads

  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 40 ·
2
Replies
40
Views
7K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
  • · Replies 63 ·
3
Replies
63
Views
6K
  • · Replies 38 ·
2
Replies
38
Views
5K