Related papers: The Equivalence Principle as a Stepping Stone from…
Quantum gravity--the marriage of quantum physics with general relativity--is bound to contain deep and important lessons for the nature of physical time. Some of these lessons shall be canvassed here, particularly as they arise from quantum…
This paper begins with a theoretical explanation of why spacetime is discrete. The derivation shows that there exists an elementary length which is essentially Planck's length. We then show how the existence of this length affects time…
This work deals with the questions of absolute space and relativity. In particular, an alternative derivation of the effects described by special relativity is provided, which is based on a description that assumes a privileged reference…
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.…
We show how a suitably prepared set of clocks can be used to determine all components of the gravitational field in General Relativity. We call such an experimental setup a clock compass, in analogy to the usual gravitational compass.…
In a purely relational theory there exists a tension between the relational character of the theory and the existence of quantities like distance and duration. We review this issue in the context of the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence. We…
Time is a parameter playing a central role in our most fundamental modelling of natural laws. Relativity theory shows that the comparison of times measured by different clocks depends on their relative motion and on the strength of the…
A thought experiment first proposed by Sartori is analysed using the parallel velocity addition formula of special relativity. The distances and proper-time intervals between some similarly defined spatial coincidence events are found to be…
We consider the Principle of Equivalence along with Weyl theorem to discuss the interpretation of gravity as a geometric effect; we study what are the restrictions on the connections that must be required for this geometrization to occur in…
We propose a new interpretation of the equivalence principle underlying Einstein's general relativity: a free-falling frame with gravitational force eliminated locally in a small spacetime region shows the existence of a boundary level,…
In special relativity theory the physical quantities are generally expressed as function of the velocity. In the particular case of an extended object, the factor 1/gamma of Lorentz contraction of its length in the direction of motion is…
Special relativity includes a concealed mechanism for reducing time-dilation effects in two mutually-receding objects. Forwarding their signals via one or more intermediate physical relay stages (a "probe chain") allows enhanced…
The absence of an identified consequence at solar system scale of the cosmological space expansion is usually explained considering that space expansion does not affect local anysotropies in matter distribution. This can also be explained…
Three related topics are discussed to show the "simplicity, harmony and beauty" of the theory of special relativity (SR): (1) How can de'Broglie discover his famous relation between the particle's momentum and a wave length -- a paradox…
Time is a parameter playing a central role in our most fundamental modeling of natural laws. Relativity theory shows that the comparison of times measured by different clocks depends on their relative motions and on the strength of the…
Clocks in different heights or with different velocities run with different speeds. For global positioning systems these effects are much too large to be ignored. Nevertheless, in classical and quantum mechanics we get high accuracy using a…
An interesting connection between special relativity and quantum mechanics was put forward by Louis de Broglie, about 60 years ago, who focused on the link between synchronization in a rotating frame and the quantization of the angular…
For simple electromagnetic models of a rod and a clock, a change of the shape of the rod and of the rate of the clock when they are set in uniform motion is calculated exactly, employing the correct equation of motion of a charged particle…
Treating time as a local variable permits robust approaches to kinematics that forego questions of extended-simultaneity, which because of their abstract nature might not be addressed explicitly until a first relativity course and even then…
We study the interplay of general relativity, the equivalence principle, and high-precision experiments involving atomic transitions and g factor measurements. In particular, we derive a generalized Dirac Hamiltonian, which describes both…