Xilor said:Hello, I was wondering if the particle lifetimes as measured by observers increases in gravitational heavier areas. Relativity seems to suggest this, and there seems to be little criticism of this concept but I couldn't find any experimental evidence supporting this. Has this ever been shown? Or are the differences simply too small?
PatrickPowers said:It has been shown with the muon, which at rest has a decay time of a little over two microseconds. This was extended by a large factor, four or something like that.
DaleSpam said:I don't think that gravitational length contraction is even a well-defined or commonly-accepted term.
Well, what it actually means (or in other words, a definition of gravitational length contraction) would have to be the first step. Once it was defined clearly then you could check if it were predicted and propose experiments to test it. I don't know of any rigorous definition.Xilor said:Is there anything that can be said about it, what it actually means and if it's predicted?
Particle lifetime in gravity refers to the amount of time a particle, such as a subatomic particle or an atom, exists before decaying or interacting with other particles due to the effects of gravity.
Gravity can affect the lifetime of particles in two main ways. First, it can cause particles to interact with each other, which can lead to decay or annihilation. Second, gravity can also cause particles to experience time dilation, which can affect their observed lifetime.
One of the most significant pieces of experimental evidence is the observation of cosmic rays, which are high-energy particles that constantly bombard the Earth's atmosphere. These particles have been found to have a shorter lifetime than particles created in controlled laboratory experiments, indicating the effects of gravity on their decay.
No, particle lifetime in gravity cannot be measured directly as it is affected by many other factors. However, scientists can study the decay rates of particles in different gravitational environments and compare them to theoretical predictions to indirectly determine the effects of gravity on particle lifetime.
The theory of general relativity, which describes the effects of gravity on the fabric of space-time, provides the framework for understanding how gravity affects the lifetime of particles. It explains how the curvature of space-time can influence the motion and interactions of particles, ultimately leading to differences in their observed lifetimes.