I Lorentz Contraction & Twin Paradox

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The twin paradox is intricately linked to special relativity, raising the question of whether it can be constructed solely from Lorentz and FitzGerald's work. While Lorentz developed the mathematical framework, including Lorentz transforms, he initially viewed them as a solution for electromagnetic equations rather than a foundation for relativity. Length contraction alone is insufficient to explain the paradox, as it lacks a self-consistent theoretical basis without the context of relativity. Both time dilation and Lorentz contraction are essential components that inherently relate to the principles of relativity. Thus, while Lorentz's contributions are significant, they do not fully encompass the conceptual understanding necessary for the twin paradox.
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Does Lorentz contraction point to the twin paradox
The twin paradox is connected to the special relativity but I wonder simply if one might construct the paradox (or something very similar) based on the Lorentz’ (and FitzGerald) work alone?

Several ingredients in the paradox, time dilation and Lorentz contraction, are often mentioned with reference only to Lorentz without any mention of relativity.
 
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Mickey1 said:
The twin paradox is connected to the special relativity but I wonder simply if one might construct the paradox (or something very similar) based on the Lorentz’ (and FitzGerald) work alone?
I don't know.
Mickey1 said:
Several ingredients in the paradox, time dilation and Lorentz contraction, are often mentioned with reference only to Lorentz without any mention of relativity.

In its simplest form, the twin paradox is the analogy in Minkowski geometry of the triangle inequality in Euclidean geometry. More generally, the proper time that elapses along the worldline of an object is equivalent to the invariant spacetime distance along the worldline.
 
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Mickey1 said:
The twin paradox is connected to the special relativity but I wonder simply if one might construct the paradox (or something very similar) based on the Lorentz’ (and FitzGerald) work alone?
Well, length contraction alone won't get you there (and I don't think a theory with length contraction alone would really be self-consistent). Lorentz actually derived the Lorentz transforms, which are the mathematical core of relativity, before Einstein. As far as I know, though, he believed them to be just a mathematical fix for Maxwell's equations, so something that was only relevant to electromagnetic waves and fields and the like, until shown otherwise by Einstein.

So Lorentz had the maths to set up the twin paradox, but not the conceptual framework in which to think of it. So in answer to your question I'd say "maybe, it kinda depends what you think of as Lorentz's work".
 
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Mickey1 said:
Several ingredients in the paradox, time dilation and Lorentz contraction, are often mentioned with reference only to Lorentz without any mention of relativity.

If you refer to Lorentz contraction, you are referring to something that's a part of relativity. Likewise for time dilation.
 
Hello, everyone, hope someone will resolve my doubts. I have posted here some two years ago asking for an explanation of the Lorentz transforms derivation found in the Einstein 1905 paper. The answer I got seemed quite satisfactory. Two years after I revisit this derivation and this is what I see. In the Einstein original paper, the Lorentz transforms derivation included as a premise that light is always propagated along the direction perpendicular to the line of motion when viewed from the...