Inertial Objects: Acceleration & Direction

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

In the discussion, participants clarify the concept of inertial frames and proper acceleration. An object with nonzero proper acceleration, as measured by an accelerometer, is not considered inertial, regardless of its motion relative to other objects. The conversation emphasizes that two objects accelerating at the same rate and in the same direction cannot be inertial to one another. The Bell's spaceship paradox and the concept of Born rigidity are highlighted as relevant to understanding these dynamics.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of proper acceleration and inertial frames
  • Familiarity with the Bell's spaceship paradox
  • Knowledge of Born rigidity in physics
  • Basic principles of relativity and reference frames
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the implications of the Bell's spaceship paradox in detail
  • Explore the concept of Born rigidity and its applications
  • Learn about the differences between proper acceleration and coordinate acceleration
  • Investigate how accelerometers function and their role in measuring acceleration
USEFUL FOR

Students and professionals in physics, particularly those studying relativity, as well as educators seeking to clarify concepts related to inertial frames and acceleration.

  • #61
jaketodd said:
Once again, proper velocity might do the trick.
What trick? It's still frame dependent, just like velocity.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #62
jbriggs444 said:
So, what does this have to do with the rate at which sand drops off of accelerating planets?

PeterDonis said:
Nope. The name "proper velocity" for this quantity is misleading; it is not an invariant the way proper acceleration or proper jerk are invariants. Don't rely on Wikipedia as a source for learning physics.

Dale said:
Yes, it is called inertia, and it behaves the way @jbriggs444 described, not the way you described.

Well, on stepping back a moment, it doesn't matter whether we use proper velocity, or coordinate velocity, or whatever. The fact is that inside my three body system, explained in detail above, the planets start moving first, with non-zero jerk, so their acceleration will always be more than the observer, leading to more sand flying off them to the observer, than compared to the reference frames of the two planets. However, the "jerk-ometers" would always read the same, for all three bodies.
 
  • #63
jaketodd said:
If jerk and acceleration can be invariant, in the context of spacetime geometry, then so can velocity,
This is incorrect. Since you mention geometry, let’s discuss the geometrical meaning of these concepts.

In spacetime, velocity is the slope of a worldline, and proper acceleration is its curvature. Different frames are different rotations of the axes.

If you draw a curve on a piece of paper then at each point along the curve there is a certain radius of curvature and a certain slope. If you rotate the paper the curvature at each point is unchanged, but the slope is changed.

So, geometrically speaking, you are wrong. The invariance of proper acceleration does not imply the invariance of velocity.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Ibix
  • #64
jaketodd said:
The fact is that inside my three body system, explained in detail above, the planets start moving first, with non-zero jerk, so their acceleration will always be more than the observer, leading to more sand flying off them to the observer, than compared to the reference frames of the two planets. However, the "jerk-ometers" would always read the same, for all three bodies.
The relativistic invariant is the total quantity of sand that flies off between some defined starting event and some defined ending event.

You appear to be speaking of the rate at which sand flies off at a particular coordinate time -- and then starting the coordinate time clocks at different times.
 
  • #65
jaketodd said:
leading to more sand flying off them to the observer
I have no idea how you reach this conclusion. The observer is utterly irrelevant to the physics of sand coming off an accelerating planet. Why would you think what the observer is doing could have any effect?
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: jbriggs444
  • #66
Dale said:
This is incorrect. Since you mention geometry, let’s discuss the geometrical meaning of these concepts.

In spacetime, velocity is the slope of a worldline, and proper acceleration is its curvature. Different frames are different rotations of the axes.

If you draw a curve on a piece of paper then at each point along the curve there is a certain radius of curvature and a certain slope. If you rotate the paper the curvature at each point is unchanged, but the slope is changed.

So, geometrically speaking, you are wrong. The invariance of proper acceleration does not imply the invariance of velocity.

I'm talking about acceleration, and jerk. I've shown how acceleration can vary, depending on reference frame, while jerk is invariant.
 
  • #67
jaketodd said:
I'm talking about acceleration, and jerk. I've shown how acceleration can vary, depending on reference frame, while jerk is invariant.
You have not shown how proper acceleration can vary depending on reference frame. It does not. We all agree that coordinate acceleration can vary.
 
  • #68
jaketodd said:
I'm talking about acceleration, and jerk. I've shown how acceleration can vary, depending on reference frame, while jerk is invariant.
No you haven't. Coordinate acceleration and coordinate jerk are frame dependent. They're related to the change of angle between a worldline and some chosen reference worldline, so depend on the choice of reference worldline. Proper acceleration and proper jerk are related to the curvature of the worldline (edit: loosely, the angle a worldline makes with itself as it was a moment earlier) and rate of change thereof, so are invariant.
 
  • #69
jaketodd said:
I've shown how acceleration ...
Without specifying what type of acceleration you mean, it's not clear what you are talking about.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Ibix
  • #70
jaketodd said:
so their acceleration will always be more than the observer,
Certainly. Their acceleration will always be more than the observer’s acceleration. However, since it is proper acceleration and since that is invariant then at any point on the planet’s worldline the planet and the observer will agree on the value of that acceleration, and hence on the amount of sand falling off. The observer’s acceleration is simply not relevant

jaketodd said:
I've shown how acceleration can vary, depending on reference frame, while jerk is invariant.
Proper acceleration is invariant, as is its derivative wrt proper time (jerk).
 
  • #71
jaketodd said:
on stepping back a moment, it doesn't matter whether we use proper velocity, or coordinate velocity, or whatever

Yes, it does. You continue to ignore the key fact that has already been explained to you several times: any actual observable must depend only on invariant quantities. Your scenario does not disprove this at all; your repeated attempts to show that it does only show that you still don't understand the key fact I just stated. You need to stop trying to convince anyone else of your claims, and take a step back and consider that key fact carefully, and continue doing that until you understand what it means.

At this point I am closing the thread since you are continuing to repeat your errors without responding to the corrections you have been given.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: phinds and Dale

Similar threads

  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
1K
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
5K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
1K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
3K
  • · Replies 78 ·
3
Replies
78
Views
7K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K