Wednesday, August 10, 2011

General Relativity Paradox?

It's not the acceleration per se that causes time dilation (this is a very common misconception), but the change in internal reference frame while you are in transit between destinations. Traveling near c (all over the place in the solar system, I presume), you travel a shorter distance than as perceived by people on earth monitoring your ship due to Lorentz contraction of the solar system itself in your reference frame. You, therefore, travel for a shorter time in your frame. Incidentally, this effect is described by Special Relativity; General is not required.

No comments:

Post a Comment