- #1
Kontilera
- 179
- 24
I’ve just realized something is wrong with my understanding of SR and I would really appreciate if you helped me sort it out. :)
This won’t be a post with loads of formulas, rather the confusion is a conceptual.
One way to describe my confusion is to put it into the twin paradox, although it’s not the common questions that most people have when encountering this ”paradox” for the first time..
So, let's say Bob and Alice are passing each other in the standard twin-paradox-scenario.
Both are in their own spaceship, meeting each other in a perfectly flat spacetime somewhere in outer space.
Both Bob and Alice are experiencing the other persons time as ”passing slower”.
When Bob decides to go back to Alice he has to accelerate.
This is where my confusion comes in.
When Bob accelerates he is going from one inertial frame to another, in a continuously manner.
This means that he he would be able to observe Alice, he would experience her time passing in ”ultrarapid”.
After the acceleration he will agree to the fact that more time has passed for Alice compared to his own measure.
It’s the whole acceleration part that seems strange.
From the point of view of how I under stand Lorentz transformations it seems fine.
But the light from Alice that Bob receives during (and right after) the acceleration seems independent of whether he accelerated or not.
Thus he ”should” see basically the same actions from Alice, in the same speed, as he would if he not accelerated.
The light that was about to reach Bob from Alice in the coming seconds are independent of his motion. (The wavelength might be shifted but that seems to be irrelevant.)
So my question is: How can Bobs view of what is simultaneous with his actions change so fast, when the light reaching him is independent of his almost instant acceleration?I hope you understand my confusion!
Thanks!
This won’t be a post with loads of formulas, rather the confusion is a conceptual.
One way to describe my confusion is to put it into the twin paradox, although it’s not the common questions that most people have when encountering this ”paradox” for the first time..
So, let's say Bob and Alice are passing each other in the standard twin-paradox-scenario.
Both are in their own spaceship, meeting each other in a perfectly flat spacetime somewhere in outer space.
Both Bob and Alice are experiencing the other persons time as ”passing slower”.
When Bob decides to go back to Alice he has to accelerate.
This is where my confusion comes in.
When Bob accelerates he is going from one inertial frame to another, in a continuously manner.
This means that he he would be able to observe Alice, he would experience her time passing in ”ultrarapid”.
After the acceleration he will agree to the fact that more time has passed for Alice compared to his own measure.
It’s the whole acceleration part that seems strange.
From the point of view of how I under stand Lorentz transformations it seems fine.
But the light from Alice that Bob receives during (and right after) the acceleration seems independent of whether he accelerated or not.
Thus he ”should” see basically the same actions from Alice, in the same speed, as he would if he not accelerated.
The light that was about to reach Bob from Alice in the coming seconds are independent of his motion. (The wavelength might be shifted but that seems to be irrelevant.)
So my question is: How can Bobs view of what is simultaneous with his actions change so fast, when the light reaching him is independent of his almost instant acceleration?I hope you understand my confusion!
Thanks!
Last edited: