Inertial Objects: Acceleration & Direction

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of inertial frames and the conditions under which two objects can be considered inertial to one another, particularly when they are accelerating. Participants explore the implications of acceleration, reference frames, and scenarios involving multiple objects, including hypothetical situations with planets and sand. The scope includes theoretical considerations and conceptual clarifications related to relativity and acceleration.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether two objects accelerating at the same rate and in the same direction can be considered inertial to one another, suggesting that the term "inertial to one another" may not be applicable.
  • One participant argues that if two objects are not moving relative to one another, they could be in inertial reference frames, but this is contested by others who emphasize that acceleration negates their inertial status.
  • Another participant introduces Bell's spaceship paradox and discusses its relevance to the scenario, suggesting that length contraction and Born rigidity are important considerations.
  • There is a discussion about how two objects can appear to not move relative to each other while accelerating relative to a third object, raising questions about the coexistence of different observations in the same universe.
  • Participants explore the notion of "feeling" acceleration, with one stating that an accelerometer can measure this, while others question the implications of different objects being in different states of motion.
  • Some participants express confusion about the relationship between acceleration and inertial frames, suggesting that the scenarios described may depend on perspective rather than concrete reality.
  • A later reply proposes a thought experiment involving clocks to illustrate how different acceleration scenarios could affect their rates, further complicating the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the definitions and implications of inertial frames and acceleration. Multiple competing views remain, particularly regarding the interpretation of scenarios involving acceleration and reference frames.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations in the definitions of inertial frames and acceleration, as well as the dependence on specific conditions and measurements. There are unresolved questions about the implications of different reference frames and the nature of observations made by different observers.

  • #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
3K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
2K
  • · 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
8K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K