One boards a spacecraft that accelerates to near light speed, on say a voyage to alpha centauri, some four light. The entire scenario is based on the idea that biff was traveling very fast, so time slowed down for him. Is there a nongeometrical explanation for the twin paradox. However, in the present article i will use the twin paradox as a pedagogical entrance to the general theory of relativity. The counterintuitive nature of einstein s ideas makes them difficult to absorb and gives rise to situations that seem unfathomable. For this explanation we shall refer to the spacestation frame as the local frame. In physics, the twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins. The proposed paradox arises because each twin sees the other. A detailed explanation of the twin paradox found in special relativity. The twin paradox and the principle of relativity iopscience.
Pdf it is pointed out that a complete resolution of the twin paradox demands that. Prediction of a new result for the twin paradox experiment, consistent with the. First chose one specific inertial frame of reference, say the rest frame of the earth which well pretend is inertial. For the twin paradox, the frame jumping explanation uses a minkowski diagram to illustrate how a change of frame by the travelling twin results in the age difference between the twins when they meet again. Nowadays twin paradox is widely studied and discussed due to the development of advanced space shuttles and precise time measuring equipment, which can help to prove or disprove it in the future.
One twin remains on earth while the other twin goes on a highvelocity time trip to visit a distant planet. The twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity, in which the ages of twins are compared after one has made a high speed journey over a long period of time, while the other has remained stationary. The twin paradox several articles that discuss this. It can be applied to anything including corsets, plus size bustiers and other sexy lingerie. According to einsteins theory of relativity, the faster you travel, the slower time passes. In physics, the twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a highspeed rocket and returns home to find that the twin who remained on earth has aged more. This paradox can be solved using proper frames of inertia for all the movement that takes place. Paul davies also does a nice job explaining the twin paradox in his book about time touchstone 1995, ppf 59. Twin paradox two the second paradox is a bit more technical, and really comes to the heart of what physicists mean when they talk about relativity. This result appears puzzling because each twin sees the other twin as moving, and so, according to an incorrect and naive application of time dilation and. Last weeks lesson was time dilation, and you hopefully understand the basics of how it works. Of special importance is how we define the inertial frame in special theory of relativity. Theres the overall result, which is that the traveling twin ages more.
The twin paradox and the principle of relativity arxiv. Thats from the fact that clocks including humans as honorary clocks measure a distancelike quantity called spacetime interval. Suppose that two identical twins start out on earth, the same age. So twin b thinks that only 210th of a year has elapsed for twin a back home as they return using the same relative time dilation factor of 10. Correct resolution of the twin paradox michael huemer. Alternative text, and animation of the twin paradox. The reason is that one of special relativitys conditions is a uniform motion. Twin paradox definition at, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. The explanation that an observer gives of a phenomenon depends upon the. The paradox in the twin paradox is that a naive view of the problem would suggest that the situation ought to be perfectly symmetric. The twin paradox is a thought experiment where one twin stays on earth and the other takes a journey through space at incredibly high speeds before returning home.
The first episode sets up the problem and gives a brief explanation for how time rotates, and the second video fully answers the twin paradox. The correct explanation for the twin paradox showing 1251 of 251 messages. When that is done, no discrepancy is found in the story and it is proved that one of the twin ages. How to understand the twin paradox science publishing group. This explanation of the twin paradox without accelerations shows that it takes two different reference frames to keep track of the time duration experienced by the twin who actually takes the trip, while it take only one frame to keep track of the duration for the twin who stays at home. Im pretty proud of this explanation, so thats probably not a good sign. The paper reveals the cause of paradoxical time dilation for an inertial stayathome twin, occurring, as. The spaceship needs acceleration and deceleration, thus ts conclusion is. The key explanation of the twin paradox is now some kind of asymmetry between the spacetime paths joining two events. An explanation of the twin paradox and why its not. We illustrate the framejumping explanation with a case of twin sisters alice. How does relativity theory resolve the twin paradox.
According to the earthling, the returning astronaut. The twin paradox two twins eartha and stella meet at an event p1, move away from each other, and then meet again at a later event p2. The counterintuitive nature of einsteins ideas makes them difficult to absorb and gives rise to situations that seem unfathomable. Relativity trail, free pdf format, with 192 pages, 65 diagrams and 75 illustrations, will provide you with complete detailed algebraic derivations of all the kinematical effects of special relativity. This theory predicts that if one of a pair of twins were to fly away from the earth all the way to alpha centauri for instance and then fly back again.
Twin a thinks they are older than twin b, but twin b thinks they are older than twin a. Kinematic solutions to the twin paradox in special. The crucial concept is the proper time of a moving body. The twin paradox in the theory of relativity article pdf available in european journal of physics 274. Kinematic solutions to the twin paradox in special relativity v. Twin paradox thorough explanation needed physics forums. The entered variables include the speed at which the rocket flies past the spacestation and the force the reverse thrusters apply to the rocket.
General relativity is not necessary to explain the twin paradox. Minutephysics host henry reich explained the twin paradox, its solution, and why it is not technically a paradox in a pair of recent episodes. Using spacetime diagrams and the rules of relativity, we can show the paradox only. Contains textual description not found in the document below. Once weve chosen a reference frame, we can define coordinates t,x,y,z for every event that takes. Spacetime diagram explanation of the twin paradox the answer to this question is that for the astronaut to return to the earth, heshe must change direction and thereby switch from one inertial frame to another, and that breaks the. The twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity.
The earthbound twin remains in a single constant velocity reference frame the entire time while the traveling twin must accelerate to turn around and come home. Twin paradox, an apparent anomaly that arises from the treatment of time in germanborn physicist albert einsteins theory of special relativity. The twin paradox uses the symmetry of time dilation to produce a situation that seems paradoxical. The other twin, earth twin, stays on earth the whole time. One can actually rigorously calculate the experienced time of both twins from either point of view and always conclude that the astronaut is younger. The socalled twin paradox is easily resolved by noting that there is a physically meaningful disinction between the experiences of the two twins during the trip. The twin paradox has a very simple resolution in this framework. Introduction wikipedia describes the twin paradox like this 1. Diagrams and equations demonstrating the symmetry of clock rate and length measures across inertial frames. The values that we are given include only the speed of light. The twin paradox is intimately related to the principle of relativity. Eartha considers herself as at rest and predicts that stella is younger than herself at p2 due to the relativistic time dilation. In accordance with the timedilation effect, the elapsed time on the clock of the twin on. The explanation has to do with how you rotate the direction of time itself every time you change speeds.
Another common factor that is overlooked involves the. Why the twin paradox arises the twin paradox arises in the special theory of relativity sr. Twin paradox definition of twin paradox by the free. In the following, i explain the twin paradox, which is supposed to be a paradoxical consequence of the special theory of relativity str. Time, topology and the twin paradox jeanpierre luminet. Similarly, analysis of a twin paradox scenario is instructive. Einstein only called it peculiar, while langevin explained the different. One of a pair of identical twins is supposed to live normally in an inertial system whilst the other is accelerated. It is a problem that involves relativistic time dilation, from the special theory of relativity the jargon might seem tough, but the solution is quite intuitive. One twin travels at great distance at the speed of light and returns, much younger than the other twin. One clever solution to this paradox is that es conclusion is right.
The twin with the greatest average velocity between the events p1 and p2 is youngest when the twins meet at p2. Twins paradox definition of twins paradox by the free. It is pointed out that a complete resolution of the twin paradox demands that the travelling twin takes into account the gravitational effect upon the rate of time when he predicts the ageing of his brother. The twin paradox is basically just the above, and then back again. Twin paradox, special relativity, acceleration required to turn around 1. In the introductory film clip, we saw that time was dilated when observed from frames of reference with a constant relative velocity v. Their situations are fundamentally different, and the. And the above resolution of the twin paradox is contrary to the spirit of the general theory of relativity. The twin paradox is one of those problems that encase within it a beautiful solution or might i say, answer. One of them gets in a spacesh ip and flies around really fast. Suppose one of two twins carrying a clock departs on a rocket ship from the other twin, an inertial observer, at a certain time, and they rejoin at a later time. Pdf the twin paradox in the theory of relativity researchgate. There is no more famous conundrum in special relativity than the twin paradox. But it cannot be explained as a result of the doppler effect by the observer in the rocket, since the detector is permanently at rest relative to the emitter in this.
The twins paradox is easily the most famous paradoxes of all time. The paradox can be unraveled by special relativity alone, and the accelerations incurred by the traveler are incidental. Twins paradox synonyms, twins paradox pronunciation, twins paradox translation, english dictionary definition of twins paradox. The twin paradox of special relativity is usually resolved by appealing to the acceleration of the astronaut. If someone can tell me what went wrong in my calculation of the number of years the spaceman thinks went by on the colony should be 40 instead of 30 i think that would crack the problem for me personally. From this we can compute, based on the local frame. The twin paradox heres a statement of the twin paradox, designed to make it seem paradoxical. The reader should also note that the speed that an observed clock appears to run depends on whether it is traveling away from or toward the observer. The twin paradox is the best known thought experiment associated with. In a recent episode of her series physics girl, dianna cowern gives a simple explanation of the two postulates of special relativity and the twin paradox. This morning i wanted to describe in my own words and at least give what little bit of the math that i know how to do. Typically an explanation has a quality in inverse proportion of the explainers pride. The special relativity view looks the same as if the stayathome twin was at rest in the unique lorentz preferred frame and the analysis correctly computes the correct net proper time difference. A closely related phenomenon predicted by special relativity is the socalled twin paradox.
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