- #36
PeterDonis
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No, it isn't. You are thinking of it backwards. The invariants are where all the actual physics is contained; and the invariants are also all you actually need to calculate answers. You do not need "time dilation" to either calculate or explain the actual physics.FactChecker said:Calling differential aging a "real" effect and time dilation not a "real" effect means that a "real" effect is caused, explained, and calculated using effects that are not "real".
For example, the explanation of differential aging is simple: different worldlines between the same pair of events can have different lengths. This is no more mysterious than the fact that different routes between two points on Earth can have different lengths. There is no more need to invoke "time dilation" to explain differential aging than there is a need to invoke "distance dilation" to explain why two different roads connecting the same pair of points on Earth have different lengths.