Related papers: A tale of two twins

The twin paradox is the best known thought experiment associated with Einstein's theory of relativity. An astronaut who makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket will return home to find he has aged less than a twin who stayed on…

We discuss the twin paradox or the clock paradox under the small velocity approximation of special relativity. In this paper the traveller twin of the standard twin parable sets out with a non-relativistic speed for the trip leaving behind…

In 1905 Einstein presented the Clock Paradox and in 1911 Paul Langevin expanded Einstein's result to human observers, the "Twin Paradox." I will explain the crucial difference between Einstein and Langevin. Einstein did not present the…

An in-depth and mathematically-detailed analysis of Langevin's popular 1911 article on the special theory of relativity is presented. For the reader's convenience, English translations of large parts of the original French text are given.…

The famous twin paradox of the Special Theory of Relativity by Einstein (1905) is revisited and revised. This paradox is not a paradox in the true sense of a paradox but a reflection of a misunderstanding of the problem and the Principle of…

The twin paradox of the special theory of relativity has given rise to a large body of literature discussing its implications. In its standard form, the traveler changes velocity only at the destination of the trip, so that he appears to…

One of the most discussed peculiarities of Einstein's theory of relativity is the twin paradox, the fact that the time between two events in space-time appears to depend on the path between these events. We show that this time discrepancy…

The principle of invariance of the velocity of light is only valid for the wrong measurements of inertial observers who ignore their own movement and consider themselves at rest. The Langevin (or clock) paradox arises when it is assumed…

The clock paradox is analyzed for the case when the onward and return trips cover the same <<distance>> (as observed by the traveling twin) but at unequal velocities. In this case the stationary twin observes the distances covered by her…

The "twin paradox" of special relativity offers the possibility to make interstellar flights within a lifetime. For very long journeys with velocities close to the speed of light, however, we have to take into account the expansion of the…

Some known relativistic paradoxes are reconsidered for closed spaces, using a simple geometric model. For two twins in a closed space, a real paradox seems to emerge when the traveling twin is moving uniformly along a geodesic and returns…

The twin paradox, which evokes from the the idea that two twins may age differently because of their relative motion, has been studied and explained ever since it was first described in 1906, the year after special relativity was invented.…

Relativistic rigid motion suggests a new version for the so-called `twin paradox', comparing the ages of two astronauts on a very long spaceship. Although there is always an instantaneous inertial frame in which the whole spaceship, being…

Discussions on the Langevin Twins 'paradox' are most often based on a "triangular" diagram which outlines the twins spacetime travels. It won't be our way, avoiding what we think to be a problem at the basis of numerous controversies. Our…

Twins travelling at constant relative velocity will each see the other's time dilate leading to the apparent paradox that each twin believes the other ages more slowly. In a finite space, the twins can both be on inertial, periodic orbits…

A geometric illustration of the Lorentz transformations is given. According to similarity between space and time and correspondence between a ruler and a clock, like the division number in a moving ruler, the tick number of a moving clock…

In this article, we present several apparent paradoxes of special relativity and their respective solutions. These paradoxes have appeared since the advent of relativity in 1905, and in fact they are never paradoxes. From a didactic point…

In this paper we treat the so called clock paradox in an analytical way by assuming that a constant and uniform force F of finite magnitude acts continuously on the moving clock along the direction of its motion assumed to be rectilinear.…

The problem of absolute motion in the context of the twin paradox is discussed. It is shown that the various versions of the clock paradox feature some aspects which Mach might have been appreciated. However, the ultimate cause of the…

Despite being a major component in the teaching of special relativity, the twin `paradox' is generally not examined in courses on general relativity. Due to the complexity of analytical solutions to the problem, the paradox is often…