- #1
dynawics
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Hello all,
I have not studied general relativity only special relativity, I apologize therefore if my questions seem low level. Thank you for your help.
Three questions:
The way in which I learned that the twin paradox is resolved is through the illustration of the way in which the observer in the rocket would necessarily immediately detect a change in the frequency of the regular signals being sent to him by his twin on earth, but, that the twin on Earth would not detect a change in frequency until a certain time later (unless the Earth was the one which underwent acceleration away from and back towards the rocket). This seems to me to indicate that there is something about the process of acceleration itself which defines any particular frame of reference as a functionally new physical system with respect to its time characteristics. Is my instinct on this issue correct?Second: Imagine a scenario in which two twins exist on different stationary planets which are known distances apart. One twin hops in his rocket and moves towards the other twin in a straight line. It would seem that each twin would see the other twin's clock move slower. According to the theory of relativity what would happen when the twin in the rocket arrives on the planet with his other twin? Would the flying twin be younger since he was the one that was flying? How could that be if both twins saw each other's clocks moving slowly and there was no change in direction? What if the twins were sending identical regular signals to each other immediately before and during the rocket flight? It seems as if they would both experience exactly the same pattern of frequency changes. Although, I suppose that, indeed, the twin flying in the rocket would, again, experience the changes in frequency before the stationary twin did. It seems as if the twin who hopped into the rocket would witness the other twins clock running slower for longer than the twin on the Earth who would only see the rocket twin's clock moving slowly until the regular signal from his transmitter reached the earth, the time during which the rocket twin had already been moving and witnessing the Earth twin as having a slow clock. If this be the case, then it seems necessary that the rocket twin would arrive older, not younger.
Third: Lastly, would not any increase in the frequency of signal registered by either twin make the clock of the other twin seem to move faster? For example, if the signal sent out was regularly timed with a clock, every second representing one signal, if you were moving towards the originating point of the signals then it seems as though you would register them faster. Would this kind of increased speed of signal registration cancel out the relativistic slowing of the clock with respect to both twins? Would in fact the clocks seem to maintain the same relative rate to each observer as a result of this combining of opposite effects in the case that the rocket was moving straight towards the other observer? Does special relativity hold only in the case of motion perpendicular to the observer?
Thank you,
Ian
I have not studied general relativity only special relativity, I apologize therefore if my questions seem low level. Thank you for your help.
Three questions:
The way in which I learned that the twin paradox is resolved is through the illustration of the way in which the observer in the rocket would necessarily immediately detect a change in the frequency of the regular signals being sent to him by his twin on earth, but, that the twin on Earth would not detect a change in frequency until a certain time later (unless the Earth was the one which underwent acceleration away from and back towards the rocket). This seems to me to indicate that there is something about the process of acceleration itself which defines any particular frame of reference as a functionally new physical system with respect to its time characteristics. Is my instinct on this issue correct?Second: Imagine a scenario in which two twins exist on different stationary planets which are known distances apart. One twin hops in his rocket and moves towards the other twin in a straight line. It would seem that each twin would see the other twin's clock move slower. According to the theory of relativity what would happen when the twin in the rocket arrives on the planet with his other twin? Would the flying twin be younger since he was the one that was flying? How could that be if both twins saw each other's clocks moving slowly and there was no change in direction? What if the twins were sending identical regular signals to each other immediately before and during the rocket flight? It seems as if they would both experience exactly the same pattern of frequency changes. Although, I suppose that, indeed, the twin flying in the rocket would, again, experience the changes in frequency before the stationary twin did. It seems as if the twin who hopped into the rocket would witness the other twins clock running slower for longer than the twin on the Earth who would only see the rocket twin's clock moving slowly until the regular signal from his transmitter reached the earth, the time during which the rocket twin had already been moving and witnessing the Earth twin as having a slow clock. If this be the case, then it seems necessary that the rocket twin would arrive older, not younger.
Third: Lastly, would not any increase in the frequency of signal registered by either twin make the clock of the other twin seem to move faster? For example, if the signal sent out was regularly timed with a clock, every second representing one signal, if you were moving towards the originating point of the signals then it seems as though you would register them faster. Would this kind of increased speed of signal registration cancel out the relativistic slowing of the clock with respect to both twins? Would in fact the clocks seem to maintain the same relative rate to each observer as a result of this combining of opposite effects in the case that the rocket was moving straight towards the other observer? Does special relativity hold only in the case of motion perpendicular to the observer?
Thank you,
Ian