Light Bending in Accelerating Elevators

[trizz10]

When horizontal light "bends" in an accelerating elevator is it following the geodesic line of a space curved by a gravitational equivalent or is it deflected, picking up a vertical component at the expense of the horizontal, though still going c.

 

[bcrowell]

When horizontal light "bends" in an accelerating elevator is it following the geodesic line of a space curved by a gravitational equivalent or is it deflected, picking up a vertical component at the expense of the horizontal, though still going c.

Either one. These are just two different descriptions in two different coordinate systems. In both cases, the light ray follows a geodesic.