- #1
arkain
- 18
- 0
Please note: While this post may seem to be me trying to advertise a new theory, I'm actually trying to find a reason to discount/discredit what I'm thinking. I don't actually expect anyone would buy into this notion given the lack of convincing reason to do so.
That being said, is it at all possible that both length-contraction and time-dilation are due to some actual structural relationship between spacetime, energy(EM in particular), and matter? Some time ago, I came to the peculiar conclusion that all of relativity, special or otherwise, the general energy equation (E = sqrt((mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2)), and some of the weird particles that show up in accelerators after a smash could all be explained by spacetime having some kind of structure that gets distorted in various ways due to the presence of sufficient quantities of energy.
Before I even bother to try and explain what I'm thinking, let's try a thought experiment to test out the basic idea. What if we modified the train paradox just a bit... Let's say the train is moving at 0.86666c (makes the numbers nice and easy). Let's get rid of the tunnel and replace it with a series of photo-sensors. Along the track at a spacing of 20m there will be 4 photo-eye sensors set up. The first two are set up so that when the first eye is crossed, a timer is started (one inside the train, and another one outside the train). When the second eye is crossed, the timers are stopped. The 3rd and 4th eyes are used to stop individual timers, starting when the eye is crossed and stopping when the eye is cleared, each having a timer both inside and outside the train. Just as a point of note, the timers inside the train are triggered by sensor panels along the outside of the train so that the signal travel distance between the clock and the sensor panel is negligible.
According to relativity, if the length of the train is L then to an outside observer, the length of the train will be 0.5L. My question is this: since a) the timers are being triggered by photo signals which move at the same speed regardless of reference frame, b) the photo signals are perpendicular to the motion of the train and as such, not subject to translative effects, will we, as a result of simple Euclidean math, register the shortened length for the train from the outside observers standpoint and the actual speed of the train from the conductors standpoint using the timers in their respective reference frames?
The reason this raises a question for me is because the triggering of these timer events happens at the speed of light. Also it's a simultaneousness problem where the events in question occur in two different reference frames. The original version of the train paradox used a problem where the two events both occurred in the same reference frame. As such, they were subject to relativistic skewing. But how does this work when the two events are in 2 different reference frames?
I can't even begin to validate what I've been thinking until I can at least understand this.
That being said, is it at all possible that both length-contraction and time-dilation are due to some actual structural relationship between spacetime, energy(EM in particular), and matter? Some time ago, I came to the peculiar conclusion that all of relativity, special or otherwise, the general energy equation (E = sqrt((mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2)), and some of the weird particles that show up in accelerators after a smash could all be explained by spacetime having some kind of structure that gets distorted in various ways due to the presence of sufficient quantities of energy.
Before I even bother to try and explain what I'm thinking, let's try a thought experiment to test out the basic idea. What if we modified the train paradox just a bit... Let's say the train is moving at 0.86666c (makes the numbers nice and easy). Let's get rid of the tunnel and replace it with a series of photo-sensors. Along the track at a spacing of 20m there will be 4 photo-eye sensors set up. The first two are set up so that when the first eye is crossed, a timer is started (one inside the train, and another one outside the train). When the second eye is crossed, the timers are stopped. The 3rd and 4th eyes are used to stop individual timers, starting when the eye is crossed and stopping when the eye is cleared, each having a timer both inside and outside the train. Just as a point of note, the timers inside the train are triggered by sensor panels along the outside of the train so that the signal travel distance between the clock and the sensor panel is negligible.
According to relativity, if the length of the train is L then to an outside observer, the length of the train will be 0.5L. My question is this: since a) the timers are being triggered by photo signals which move at the same speed regardless of reference frame, b) the photo signals are perpendicular to the motion of the train and as such, not subject to translative effects, will we, as a result of simple Euclidean math, register the shortened length for the train from the outside observers standpoint and the actual speed of the train from the conductors standpoint using the timers in their respective reference frames?
The reason this raises a question for me is because the triggering of these timer events happens at the speed of light. Also it's a simultaneousness problem where the events in question occur in two different reference frames. The original version of the train paradox used a problem where the two events both occurred in the same reference frame. As such, they were subject to relativistic skewing. But how does this work when the two events are in 2 different reference frames?
I can't even begin to validate what I've been thinking until I can at least understand this.