THE ROLE OF ACCELERATION AND LOCALITY IN THE TWIN PARADOX

We study the role of acceleration in the twin paradox. From the coordinate transformation that relates an accelerated and an inertial observer we find that, from the point of view of the accelerated observer, the rate of the differential lapses of time depends not only on the relative velocity, but also on the product of the acceleration and the distance between the observers. However, this result does not have a direct operational interpretation because an observer at a certain position can measure only physical quantities that are defined at the same position. For local measurements, the asymmetry between the two observers can be attributed to the fact that noninertial coordinate systems, contrary to inertial coordinate systems, can be correctly interpreted only locally.     

Length measurement in accelerated systems

We investigate the limitations of length measurements by accelerated observers in Minkowski spacetime brought about via the hypothesis of locality, namely, the assumption that an accelerated observer at each instant is equivalent to an otherwise identical momentarily comoving inertial observer. We find that consistency can be achieved only in a rather limited neighborhood around the observer with linear dimensions that are negligibly small compared to the characteristic acceleration length of the observer.     

Use of Lorentz Transformations for Noninertial Frames of Reference

By analogy with the calculation of the path of a mass point in terms of the integral of the point velocity with respect to time, such that the point has a constant velocity V(t _i) within a time interval dt _i, then changes this velocity stepwise by V(t _i+1), moves with this velocity within a time interval dt _i+1, etc., an accelerated motion of an observer with a clock is represented by alternating states of rest in a sequence of inertial frames of reference and instantaneous jumps from one frame of reference into another. Lorentz transformations are used to calculate the readings of a resting clock observed from a noninertial frame of reference represented in this manner, during the rest of a noninertial observer in a next-in-turn inertial frame of reference belonging to the mentioned sequence, and upon a jump. For the observation from a noninertial frame of reference, the relation of the time interval counted by the resting clock to the time interval counted by the accelerated clock and to the acceleration has been obtained.     

The Equivalence Principle and an Electric Charge in a Gravitational Field II. A Uniformly Accelerated Charge Does Not Radiate

The electromagnetic field of a charge supported in a uniform gravitational field is examined from the viewpoint of an observer falling freely in the gravitational field. It is argued that such a charge, which from the principle of equivalence is moving with a uniform acceleration with respect to the (inertial) observer, could not be undergoing radiation losses at a rate implied by Larmor's formula. It is explicitly shown that the total energy in electromagnetic fields, including both velocity and acceleration fields, of a uniformly accelerated charge, at any given instant of the inertial observer's time, is just equal to the self-energy of a non-accelerated charge moving with a velocity equal to the instantaneous present velocity of the accelerated charge. At any given instant of time, and as seen with respect to the present position of the uniformly accelerated charge, although during the acceleration phase there is a radially outward component of the Poynting vector, there is throughout a radially inward Poynting flux component during the deceleration phase, and a null Poynting vector at the instant of the turn around. From Poynting's theorem, defined for any region of space strictly in terms of fixed instants of time, it is shown that a uniformly accelerated charge does not emit electromagnetic radiation, in contrast to what is generally believed. Contrary to some earlier suggestions in the literature, there is no continuous passing of electromagnetic radiation from a uniformly accelerated charge into the region inaccessible to a co-accelerating observer.     

Application of the Lorentz transformations from an intrinsic reference frame of noninertial clocks

Accelerated motion is considered as a successive presence of an observer in accompanying inertial reference frames (AIRF) with jumps between them. A formula comprising two terms has already been derived to explain the twin paradox. The first term of this formula describes the time dilation in the reference frame associated with the twin at rest, while the moving twin is in the chosen AIRF. The second term describes a jump of readings of the clock of the twin at rest observed by the accelerated twin who jumps in the next AIRF. In the present study, this formula is used to derive the relative velocity and the distance passed by the accelerated twin by the scale associated with the twin at rest from a noninertial reference frame (NRF). Uniformly accelerated motion followed by uniformly decelerated motion to the stop in the initial inertial reference frame is examined. Readings of any clocks at rest, including clocks of the twin at rest, are derived from the NRF. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 59–64, December, 2005.     

Majorana,Pauling and the quantum theory of the chemical bond

Nonlocal electrodynamics is a formalism developed to include nonlocal effects in the measurement process in order to account for the impossibility of instantaneous measurement of physical fields. This theory modifies Maxwell's electrodynamics by eliminating the hypothesis of locality that assumes an accelerated observer simultaneously equivalent to a comoving inertial frame of reference. In this scenario, the transformation between an inertial and accelerated observer is generalized which affects the properties of physical fields. In particular, we analyze how an uniformly accelerated observer perceives a homogeneous and isotropic black body radiation. We show that all nonlocal effects are transient and most relevant in the first period of acceleration.     

Alice falls into a black hole: entanglement in noninertial frames

Two observers determine the entanglement between two free bosonic modes by each detecting one of the modes and observing the correlations between their measurements. We show that a state which is maximally entangled in an inertial frame becomes less entangled if the observers are relatively accelerated. This phenomenon, which is a consequence of the Unruh effect, shows that entanglement is an observer-dependent quantity in noninertial frames. In the high acceleration limit, our results can be applied to a nonaccelerated observer falling into a black hole while the accelerated one barely escapes. If the observer escapes with infinite acceleration, the state's distillable entanglement vanishes.     

Use of the Lorentz Transformations in Noninertial Reference Frames

The Lorentz transformations are used within the model of a noninertial reference frame without infinitely high accelerations arising at instantaneous jumps of an accelerated observer between different inertial reference frames. It is demonstrated that the twin paradox can be explained within this model with the help of the Lorentz transformations. Based on the model of a noninertial reference frame, the acceleration a measured in the noninertial reference frame is related to the acceleration a measured in an inertial reference frame.     

关于运动的钟变慢的讨论

"运动的钟变慢"是相互的.通过这个结论,本文进一步论证处在两个不同惯性系的两个时钟,它们的读数与观察者所处的惯性系无关.     

Contribution to Inertial Mass by Reaction of the Vacuum to Accelerated Motion

We present an approach to understanding the origin of inertia involving the electromagnetic component of the quantum vacuum and propose this as a step toward an alternative to Mach's principle. Preliminary analysis of the momentum flux of the classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation impinging on accelerated objects as viewed by an inertial observer suggests that the resistance to acceleration attributed to inertia may be at least in part a force of opposition originating in the vacuum. This analysis avoids the ad hoc modeling of particle-field interaction dynamics used previously by Haisch, Rueda, and Puthoff (Phys. Rev. A 49, 678, (1994)) to derive a similar result. This present approach is not dependent upon what happens at the particle point, but on how an external observer assesses the kinematical characteristics of the zero-point radiation impinging on the accelerated object. A relativistic form of the equation of motion results from the present analysis. Its manifestly covariant form yields a simple result that may be interpreted as a contribution to inertial mass. We note that our approach is related by the principle of equivalence to Sakharov's conjecture (Sov. Phys. Dokl. 12, 1040, (1968)) of a connection between Einstein action and the vacuum. The argument presented may thus be construed as a descendant of Sakharov's conjecture by which we attempt to attribute a mass-giving property to the electromagnetic component—and possibly other components—of the vacuum. In this view the physical momentum of an object is related to the radiative momentum flux of the vacuum instantaneously contained in the characteristic proper volume of the object. The interaction process between the accelerated object and the vacuum (akin to absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation) appears to generate a physical resistance (reaction force) to acceleration suggestive of what has been historically known as inertia.     

Tripartite entanglement of fermionic system in accelerated frames

The dynamics of tripartite entanglement of fermionic system in noninertial frames through linear contraction criterion when one or two observers are accelerated is investigated. In one observer accelerated case the entanglement measurement is not invariant with respect to the partial realignment of different subsystems and for two observers accelerated case it is invariant. It is shown that the acceleration of the frame does not generate entanglement in any bipartite subsystems. Unlike the bipartite states, the genuine tripartite entanglement does not completely vanish in both one observer accelerated and two observers accelerated cases even in the limit of infinite acceleration. The degradation of tripartite entanglement is fast when two observers are accelerated than when one observer is accelerated. It is shown that tripartite entanglement is a better resource for quantum information processing than the bipartite entanglement in noninertial frames.     

Exact solutions for shells collapsing towards a pre-existing black hole

The gravitational collapse of a star is an important issue both for general relativity and astrophysics, which is related to the well-known “frozen star” paradox. This paradox has been discussed intensively and seems to have been solved in the comoving-like coordinates. However, to a real astrophysical observer within a finite time, this problem should be discussed in the point of view of the distant rest-observer, which is the main purpose of this Letter. Following the seminal work of Oppenheimer and Snyder (1939), we present the exact solution for one or two dust shells collapsing towards a pre-existing black hole. We find that the metric of the inner region of the shell is time-dependent and the clock inside the shell becomes slower as the shell collapses towards the pre-existing black hole. This means the inner region of the shell is influenced by the property of the shell, which is contrary to the result in Newtonian theory. It does not contradict the Birkhoff's theorem, since in our case we cannot arbitrarily select the clock inside the shell in order to ensure the continuity of the metric. This result in principle may be tested experimentally if a beam of light travels across the shell, which will take a longer time than without the shell. It can be considered as the generalized Shapiro effect, because this effect is due to the mass outside, but not inside as the case of the standard Shapiro effect. We also found that in real astrophysical settings matter can indeed cross a black hole's horizon according to the clock of an external observer and will not accumulate around the event horizon of a black hole, i.e., no “frozen star” is formed for an external observer as matter falls towards a black hole. Therefore, we predict that only gravitational wave radiation can be produced in the final stage of the merging process of two coalescing black holes. Our results also indicate that for the clock of an external observer, matter, after crossing the event horizon, will never arrive at the “singularity” (i.e. the exact center of the black hole), i.e., for all black holes with finite lifetimes their masses are distributed within their event horizons, rather than concentrated at their centers. We also present a worked-out example of the Hawking's area theorem.     

On the measure of proper time in general relativity

The theoretical measure of proper time on a moving particle in general relativity is the aggregate of infinitesimal clock readings in successive inertial frames along its space-time path. This raises the question of whether the proper time can be satisfactorily measured by a clock permanently located with the particle. An investigation is made of the likely effects of acceleration, or equivalently of a gravitational field, on atomic, nuclear, and particle clocks. The orders of magnitude of such effects are compared with those of other classical influences such as the Einstein redshift and transverse Doppler effects.     

Eliminating the Unruh effect of relativistic Dirac fields by partial measurements

The retrieval of lost entanglement for relatively accelerated fermionic observers of a tripartite system by a partial measurement technique has been investigated. From the prospective of the negativities of one-tangles and the π-tangle, we show that the degraded entanglement in noninertial frames with single-mode approximation is completely retrieved by an optimal strength of the partial measurement or the partial measurement reversal. In addition, we find that the optimal one-tangle with respect to inertial and noninertial observers turns out to be the same for an optimal strength of partial measurements at q₀=0 when two accelerated observers move with infinite acceleration.     

A derivation of three-dimensional inertial transformations

The derivation of the transformations between inertial frames made by Mansouri and Sexl is generalised to three dimensions for an arbitrary direction of the velocity. Assuming length contraction and time dilation to have their relativistic values, a set of transformations kinematically equivalent to special relativity is obtained. The “clock hypothesis” allows the derivation to be extended to accelerated systems. A theory of inertial transformations maintaining absolute simultaneity is shown to be the only one logically consistent with accelerated movements. Algebraic properties of these transformations are discussed. Financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences.     

A Coaccelerated Observer

We analyze the situation of an observer coaccelerated relative to a linearly accelerated charge, in order to find whether he can observe the radiation emitted from the accelerated charge. It is found that the seemingly special situation of the coaccelerated observer relative to any other observer, is deduced from a wrong use of the retarded coordinate system, when such a system is inadmissible. It is also found that the coaccelerated observer has no special position other than any other observer, and hence, he can observe any physical events as any other observer.     

Tachyons and superluminal wave groups

In the approximation that every inertial observer experiences a homogeneous, uniform flow of time and sees a space that is Euclidean, the arena of physics is Minkowskian and one speed is the same in all intertial frames. If a given intertial observer finds an infinitesimal source or particle traveling faster than this fundamental speed near a given event, the source must appear in some inertial frame spread over neighboring positions at a given time as a spacelike structure. If this structure persists over a period of proper time, it can be interpreted as a wave group. If it is conserved, it can be interpreted as a line or tube of force.