ESponge2000
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- TL;DR Summary
- So suppose the light beam travels 1 light year through vacuum,
then spends a year traveling through 5light-months distance of solid diamonds (c/n),
and then exits the diamonds back to a 1 ly stretch of vacuum to reach a final
mirror
,( and you are read examining the time it takes for items to roundtrip from you to that mirror )
Would this round-trip time time for a light beam between you and the mirror fluctuate if the diamonds started drifting apart?
Let me see if I can explain this it’s a bit complicated
first assume we, the mirror, and the diamond medium are in the same IRF and along the path of a light beam:m
at first that is what we have
We have a refractive index of the diamonds at 12/5ths
We have 1 ly of vaccuum
5 light-months of diamond
Then 1 more ly of vaccum to reach a mirror
a light beam on average takes 1 year to reach the Diamond, 1 year to get through the Diamond middle , 1 year to the mirror , So round-trip 6 years to see our reflection
But now, let’s assume the diamonds medium does not stay in our rest frame , and some diamonds travel towards us. Other diamonds travel towards the mirror , some diamonds oscillate back and forth like a pendulum and the diamonds on the spatial linear path move wildly in all directions at very close to the speed of light
After this all sets in, like 10 years later what happens we have length-contracted diamonds in our resting frame? Does this mean the diamond layer is no longer 5 light months or the 2 and 5/12th ly and so to us the distance between the mirror and us is a higher % path of light moving at c and less of it moving at c/n? How would this work ?
first assume we, the mirror, and the diamond medium are in the same IRF and along the path of a light beam:m
at first that is what we have
We have a refractive index of the diamonds at 12/5ths
We have 1 ly of vaccuum
5 light-months of diamond
Then 1 more ly of vaccum to reach a mirror
a light beam on average takes 1 year to reach the Diamond, 1 year to get through the Diamond middle , 1 year to the mirror , So round-trip 6 years to see our reflection
But now, let’s assume the diamonds medium does not stay in our rest frame , and some diamonds travel towards us. Other diamonds travel towards the mirror , some diamonds oscillate back and forth like a pendulum and the diamonds on the spatial linear path move wildly in all directions at very close to the speed of light
After this all sets in, like 10 years later what happens we have length-contracted diamonds in our resting frame? Does this mean the diamond layer is no longer 5 light months or the 2 and 5/12th ly and so to us the distance between the mirror and us is a higher % path of light moving at c and less of it moving at c/n? How would this work ?