- #36
cfrogue
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JesseM said:What do you mean by "relative"? It is a v defined in relation to a single coordinate Earth-centered system, so you can say it's defined "relative" to that coordinate system, but it's not "relative" in the sense that we are considering more than one frame of reference, so there are no issues of reciprocity. Similarly, in SR if you are traveling at 0.8c relative to me, and I am only using my inertial rest frame to define velocity and clock rates, then there is no issue of reciprocity here either--in this single frame, it is unambiguously true that I am at rest and you are moving at 0.8c, and that my clock is ticking at a normal rate while yours is slowed down by a factor of 0.6 (and if you also use my rest frame to do your calculations, you will agree--remember that any observer can calculate things from the perspective of any frame they like). Reciprocity would only enter into things if we wanted to also look at things from the perspective of your rest frame, but I have no obligation to do this, I can address any coordinate-invariant physical question using only my own rest frame to do the calculations.
Earlier I asked this question:
Your response was "Yea, this is fine", but the fact that you continue to talk as though we are somehow obligated to consider the issue of reciprocity in different frames (and it's not entirely clear you understand that 'reciprocity' only applies when we consider multiple frames as opposed to just one) suggests you aren't actually totally fine with this. So please tell me again, do you understand that there is never a requirement to use multiple frames in relativity, and that it only makes sense to talk about "reciprocity" in things like time dilation when we are comparing multiple frames?
Finally, note that even when we do deal with multiple frames, the idea that time dilation should be reciprocal only applies if both frames are inertial ones (the time dilation factor [tex]\sqrt{1 - v^2/c^2}[/tex] is only meant to apply in inertial frames). If you have an inertial observer A with a non-inertial observer B orbiting around him, and you consider both the inertial frame where A is at rest and the non-inertial rotating frame where B is at rest, then both frames will agree that B's clock is ticking slower than A's.
OK, perhaps you can explain this.
1) relative motion and reciprocal time dilation
2) Your absolute standard you are using that causes a v to occur but is not relative motion and time dilation is one way.