[General] JW on STR twin Paradox

Dr Grahame Blackwell grahame at starweave.com
Sat Jul 8 05:01:56 PDT 2017


Albrecht,

I'd agree with all that you say here.  I'd add just one reminder, of what we've talked about before.

For the 'unique absolute rest frame' to fully stand up to scrutiny in the light of experimental findings of SR, it's not only necessary to show that an observer in a moving frame would be led to believe from observation that their frame is static - it's also necessary to show that this moving observer would perceive the SAME degree of (a) time dilation and (b) length contraction in the absolutely static frame as would be seen from that static frame in the observer's frame (those two effects are of course NOT objective realities in the static frame, they are perceived by the moving observer as a consequence of their OWN motion).

To show that the moving observer perceives themself as static is relatively (!!) easy; to show that they perceive an actually-static frame as subject to relativistic effects takes a little more thought - but it can be done, and shown to be so.  [This is what I have referred to previously as 'reciprocity'.]

In addition, of course, it needs to be - and CAN be - shown how EVERY experimental finding that's considered to be evidence for frame symmetry can be fully explained without any need for, or reference to, frame symmetry.

No paradoxes - just a little more thought than most physicists appear to have wished to put into explaining the 'how' of Relativity (which is what I always thought physics was actually about - explaining the 'how'?)

All of this is shown in detail in my latest book, published last year.

Best regards,
Grahame
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Albrecht Giese 
  To: general at lists.natureoflightandparticles.org 
  Sent: Friday, July 07, 2017 9:06 PM
  Subject: Re: [General] JW on STR twin Paradox


  Chip,




  I also think that it is the easiest and most physical way to understand relativity in general and dilation in particular, if one assumes that there is an absolute frame of rest, and that the motion with respect to this frame causes (among other phenomena) dilation. But it is a specific property of relativity that every observer in any inertial frame can assume that his frame is the frame at rest. And in his observation the physical world behaves indeed as if his frame would be the absolute frame at rest.




  This sounds like a paradox at the first glance. But with a proper use of the Lorentz transformation it can be explained why it is this way. It is a bit of work to make these calculations, but it is possible and one may say that this work is a necessity to understand special relativity.




  Albrecht


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