Conventionality in distant simultaneity

Thought experiments are described in which the one-way velocity of light appears as a physical quantity. A rotating shaft is used to define distant synchrony for a system of clocks along the shaft. In this context Einstein's definition of distant simultaneity is seen as based on a physical assumption (and not merely on an overwhelmingly sensible choice in a range of conventional possibilities).     

Conventionality in distant simultaneity

The paper defends the thesis of conventionality in distant simultaneity within the special theory of relativity. The thesis can be expressed in the following way: There is no method independent of standard synchronization by which the one-way velocity of light can be measured if all empirical consequences of the special theory of relativity are to be accepted. Three methods which have recently been suggested are investigated. It is shown that they all depend on the method of standard synchronization. It is finally claimed that nobody has suggested a method which cannot be shown to depend on the method of standard synchronization.     

光参量振荡伴生拉曼激光

利用调QNd∶YAG倍频激光泵浦KTP非线性晶体为介质的参量振荡器,产生了608.3nm~903.1nm宽带参量调谐激光,线宽1.4nm,光-光转换效率30%。当泵浦光增强到12mJ时,在参量激光谱线的近傍,长波方向出现了一条新谱线,与参量调谐激光谱线同步移动,谱线间隔随参量激光波长的增加而增加,两条谱线波数(能量)差(720cm-1)是一个定值,这是参量激光激发出斯托克斯拉曼激光典型特征。     

Czerny-Turner imaging spectrometer for broadband spectral simultaneity

A modified asymmetrical Czerny-Turner arrangement with a fixed plane grating is proposed to correct aberrations over a broadband spectral range by analyzing the dependence of aberrations for different wavelengths. The principle of design is deduced in detail. We compare the performance of this modified Czerny-Turner imaging spectrometer with that of the existing Czerny-Turner arrangement by using a practical Czerny-Turner imaging spectrometer example. The excellent performance of the modified imaging spectrometer is confirmed by simulation with ZEMAX software.     

Round-trip clock retardation and the conventionality of simultaneity

A synchrony-free, velocity-independent formulation of the Lorentz transformation is derived in a very simple manner with the help of thek-calculus. The dependence of the well-known relativistic effects on the choice of simultaneity metric is put forth, and the significance of the possibility of eliminating these effects is explored. This leads to a simple analysis of the clock paradox, or round-trip clock retardation. The doctrine of the conventionality of simultaneity is brought to bear on the interpretation of this effect. It is argued that such a round-trip effect constitutes a physical realization not only of the conventionality of simultaneity but of that of temporal congruence as well. Some physics perhaps vindicates a little philosophy.     

Zeroth law of thermodynamics and transitivity of simultaneity

The transitivity of thermal equilibrium is equivalent to the transitivity of clock rate synchronization. The condition of clock rate synchronization in general relativity is shown, which is weaker than time-orthogonality.     

Distance and the conventionality of simultaneity in special relativity

The conventionality of simultaneity within inertial frames is presented in a general formalism that clarifies the relationship of spatial measures to the choice of simultaneity. A number of claims that such measures undermine the conventional nature of simultaneity are presented and shown to be unfounded. In particular, a recent claim by Coleman and Korte [9] that such measures empirically establish a unique simultaneity relationship is shown to be in error. In addition, the general formalism enables the empirical status of simultaneity within an inertial frame to be clarified by presenting the choice of simultaneity as a gauge choice.1. Recent introductions to the literature have been given by Redhead [35], Ungar [47], Havas [21], and Vetharaniam and Stedman [48].2. The conventionalist position is by no means a uniform one, and in particular, it is worth noting an important distinction exemplified in the respective positions of Reichenbach and Grünbaum. For Reichenbach [37, p. 144f.] we have no empirical access to the one-way speed of light due to the nature of light as a first signal, and the conventionality comes from our absence ofknowledge about the one-way speed of light. For Grünbaum the one-way speed of light is actually objectively undetermined, and the physical attributes that sustain a speed in a given direction are non-existent. See, for example, [16, p. 87] and [17, p. 352]. Discussions of the differences between the positions of Reichenbach and Grünbaum may be found in [14] and [35]. Naturally, one may adhere to a position espoused by Reichenbach without the added ontological commitment of Grünbaum.3. Our is equivalent to (1 - 2), where is the symbol introduced by Reichenbach and customarily used in the discussions of the conventionality of simultaneity.4. An exposition of this argument may be found in the recent text by Lucas and Hodgson [28].5. Schrödinger [42, p. 78] has aptly labeled this quantity the distance of simultaneity.6. Examples of previous uses space-dependent synchrony parameters may be found in studies by Clifton [8], Havas [21], Anderson and Stedman [1], and Stedman [43; 44, § 2].7. This approach has been reviewed by Basri in [4] and [3].8. A number of faulty assessments of the empirical status of the conventionality of simultaneity may be similarly traced at least in part to overly simplistic assumptions on the nature of as Havas [21] and Clifton [8], for example, have had occasion to point out.9. See, for example, [1]. Kinematic formula relating other quantities in a treatment of STR without the standard convention on the one-way speed of light were first derived by Winnie [53].10. In comparison to other space dependent treatments of the synchrony parameter, ourh is analogous to defined by Clifton in Eq. (15) of [8], and equivalent to -f defined by Havas in Eq. (A1) of [21] and to defined in Eq. (6) of our earlier treatment in [1]. We take this opportunity to mention that the irrotational property ofh was inadvertently referred to as solenoidal in this work.11. Equation (26) is equivalent to Møller's expression in § 8.8 of [32] for the speed of light in terms of the metric components where our-h _i is equivalent to Møller's _i (g _i0)/ .12. Note as well, the expression of this operation in standard texts on STR by Rindler [38, pp. 27–28] and Mermin [30, p. 79] respectively: To measure the rod's length in any inertial frame in which it moves longitudinally, its end-point must be observed simultaneously... and, ...a measurement of the length of a moving meter stick involves determining how far apart the two ends areat the same time. In the same context of determining the length of moving rods, Mermin [30, p. 185] proposes that the sense of length entailing the concept of being determined at simultaneous times is inherent in the notion of rods: ...it is precisely the lines of constant time that determine whatA orB means by the stick. For the notion of the stick includes implicitly the assumption that all the points of matter making up the stick exist at the same moment.13. In many ways the claim that the special properties of proper lengths with Einstein synchronization undermines the conventionality of simultaneity is analogous to the claim that the correspondence of the slow-clock transport method of synchronization with that of Einstein synchronization provides an empirical determination of synchronization. The use of clock transport as a means for synchronization was discussed by Reichenbach [37, p. 133f], while the proposal that slow transport of clocks provides a unique form of synchronization was first argued for by Eddington [10]. Arguments that it undermines any significant sense of the conventionality in the one-way speed of light have been given by Ellis and Bowman [13] with responses by Grünbaum [19] and Salmon [41, 40].14. Coleman and Korte [9, pp. 423–425] claim their method is free from any assumptions on the one-way speed of light; however, they assume that is a constant 3-vector.15. Reichenbach explicitly mentioned in [36, § 43] that a condition equivalent to Eq. (13) is a sufficient condition for a constant roundtrip speed of light.16. The remarks of one of the referees have served to alert us to the need to emphasize both of these points.17. The manner in which gravity may be viewed as a gauge theory has been the subject of considerable discussion (see, for example, the discussion in [23] and [24]). We note that the manner in which we are takingh as a potential differs from the sense in which the Christoffel symbols as affine connections may be seen to play a role of gauge potentials in GTR.18. A discussion of the significance of Weyl's work and the importance of the round-trip measurements may be found in works by Yang [56] and Mills [31].19. In the context only of time orthogonal coordinates, an example of the fiber structure we are imposing on space and time may be found in [26, p. 71f]. Again we note that in a more general treatment, where the Christoffel symbols are considered as connections, the fiber structure instead consists of a bundle of linear frames of Riemannian spacetime (see, for example, the presentations in [46] and [23]).20. Our position is not unlike Göckeler and Schücker's [15, p. 75] claim that Einstein's particular choice of coordinates in GTR masks the general gauge structure of the theory.     

双光子阵列点激发同时多维荧光信息的处理

五维同时荧光信息显微成像方法是一种新的荧光信息获取技术，它采用了双光子阵列点激发方式.这一方法可同时获取激发阵列点每点荧光的位置信息、荧光光谱信息和荧光寿命信息，弥补了现有荧光检测技术的不同功能信息不具有同时性的缺陷.给出了从这种技术的复合信息中提取复合光谱几何强度结构图像、不同光谱几何强度结构图像、不同光谱寿命图像的方法.提出了一种激发荧光强度修正系数矩阵方法，消除阵列点激发光强不均匀对激发荧光强弱产生的不利影响，取得明显效果.实验对实际样品做了数据采集和处理，给出图像结果，表明处理的效果良好.对存在的问题也作了讨论. 关键词： 荧光信息处理 双光子 荧光光谱 荧光寿命     

Can Einstein's definition of simultaneity be considered a convention?

We give an easy way of falsifying the Reichenbach-Grümbaum conventionalist interpretation of the definition of simultaneity of distant events.     

Quantum Invariant Measures

We derive an explicit expression for the Haar integral on the quantized algebra of regular functions ℂ _q [K] on the compact real form K of an arbitrary simply connected complex simple algebraic group G. This is done in terms of the irreducible ✶-representations of the Hopf ✶-algebra ℂ _q [K]. Quantum analogs of the measures on the symplectic leaves of the standard Poisson structure on K which are (almost) invariant under the dressing action of the dual Poisson algebraic group K ^✶ are also obtained. They are related to the notion of quantum traces for representations of Hopf algebras. As an application we define and compute explicitly quantum analogs of Harish-Chandra c-functions associated to the elements of the Weyl group of G. Received: 26 January 2001 / Accepted: 31 May 2001     

Lightlike simultaneity,comoving observers and distances in general relativity

We state a condition for an observer to be comoving with another observer in general relativity, based on the concept of lightlike simultaneity. Taking into account this condition, we study relative velocities, Doppler effect and light aberration. We obtain that comoving observers observe the same light ray with the same frequency and direction, and so gravitational redshift effect is a particular case of Doppler effect. We also define a distance between an observer and the events that it observes, called lightlike distance, obtaining geometrical properties. We show that lightlike distance is a particular case of radar distance in the Minkowski space-time and generalizes the proper radial distance in the Schwarzschild space-time. Finally, we show that lightlike distance gives us a new concept of distance in Robertson–Walker space-times, according to Hubble law.     

Abundance of Invariant and Almost Invariant Pure States of -Dynamical Systems

We show that invariant states of -dynamical systems can be approximated in the weak^*-topology by invariant pure states, or almost invariant pure states, under various circumstances. Received: Received: 25 July 1996 / Accepted: 9 December 1996     

The Parametrization Invariant and Gauge Invariant Effective Actions in Quantum Field Theory

The review of formulation and methods of calculation of the parametrization and gauge invariant effective actions in quantum field theory is given. As an example the Vilkovisky-De Witt Effective action (EA) is studied (this EA is a natural representative of gauge and parametrization invariant EA's). The examples where the use of the standard EA leads to the ambiguity are demonstrated. This happens as the result of dependence of the standard EA upon the choice of gauge condition. These examples are as follows: Coleman-Weinberg potential in the finite theories and symmetry breaking, EA in quantum gravity with matter and d = 5 gauged supergravity, the possibility of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in N = 1 supergravity and the spontaneous compactification in the multidimensional R²-gravity. In all these cases the one-loop Vilkovisky-De Witt EA is found and therefore the problem of gauge dependence of EA is solved. The dependence of standard EA of composite fields upon the gauge is studied for the general gauge theories. The class of gauge and parametrization invariant EA's of the composite fields is offered.     

Invariant Higher-Order Variational Problems

We investigate higher-order geometric k-splines for template matching on Lie groups. This is motivated by the need to apply diffeomorphic template matching to a series of images, e.g., in longitudinal studies of Computational Anatomy. Our approach formulates Euler-Poincaré theory in higher-order tangent spaces on Lie groups. In particular, we develop the Euler-Poincaré formalism for higher-order variational problems that are invariant under Lie group transformations. The theory is then applied to higher-order template matching and the corresponding curves on the Lie group of transformations are shown to satisfy higher-order Euler-Poincaré equations. The example of SO(3) for template matching on the sphere is presented explicitly. Various cotangent bundle momentum maps emerge naturally that help organize the formulas. We also present Hamiltonian and Hamilton-Ostrogradsky Lie-Poisson formulations of the higher-order Euler-Poincaré theory for applications on the Hamiltonian side.     

Invariant connections and vortices

We study the vortex equations on a line bundle over a compact Kähler manifold. These are a generalization of the classical vortex equations over ². We first prove an invariant version of the theorem of Donaldson, Uhlenbeck and Yau relating the existence of a Hermitian-Yang-Mills metric on a holomorphic bundle to the stability of such a bundle. We then show that the vortex equations are a dimensional reduction of the Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation. Using this fact and the theorem above we give a new existence proof for the vortex equations and describe the moduli space of solutions.     

Relativistic Gauge Invariant Potentials

A global method characterizing the invariant connections on an abelian principal bundle under a group of transformations is applied in order to get gauge invariant electromagnetic (elm.) potentials in a systematic way. So, we have classified all the elm. gauge invariant potentials under the Poincaré subgroups of dimensions 4, 5, and 6, up to conjugation. It is paid attention in particular to the situation where these subgroups do not act transitively on the space-time manifold. We have used the same procedure for some galilean subgroups to get nonrelativistic potentials and study the way they are related to their relativistic partners by means of contractions. Some conformal gauge invariant potentials have also been derived and considered when they are seen as consequence of an enlargement of the Poincaré symmetries.     

On attempts to rescue the conventionality thesis of distant simultaneity in str

Recently, some conventionalists have tried to rescue the conventionality of distant simultaneity by introducing a spatially dependent (x,y,z), where {1,2,3}. In this paper, we show that this attempt fails by providing a detailed analysis of the coordinate independent and non-conventional procedure for directly measuring the metricd _M ² on eventspace with respect to a physical radar coordinate system. The measuredd _M ² in turn provides the empirical basis for uniquely determining the hyperplanes of space for a given inertial observer in a way that makes absolutely no reference whatsoever to any kind of synchrony, whether spatially dependent or not except for the sole purpose of assigning physical coordinates to events.     

基于同时的相对性对钟慢尺缩效应的再认识

同时的相对性、钟慢效应和尺缩效应是狭义相对论时空观的主要内容.鉴于同时性是时空测量的基础,本文从同时的相对性出发详述了对钟慢效应和尺缩效应的再认识:钟慢效应是运动时钟走时率变慢和校表问题的综合表现,其实质是同时的相对性在时间量度上的直接反映;尺缩效应的实质是同时的相对性在空间量度上的反映,也是不同观测者对同一客观事实的不同时空描述.     

A Note on Unification of Translational Shape Invariant Potential and Scaling Shape Invariant Potential

This article puts forward a general shape invariant potential, which includes the translational shape invariant potential and scaling shape invariant potential as two particular cases, and derives the set of linear differential equations for obtaining general solutions of the generalized shape invariance condition.     

Invariant Foliation of Dynamical Spacetimes

We present a gauge-theoretical derivation of the Frobenius foliation condition. It is based on a nonlinear coset realization of the Poincaré group, implying the time component ⁰ of the coframe to be invariant. By means of the unitary gauge fixing of the boosts, three Goldstone-like degrees of freedom of ⁰ are eliminated. The remaining Higgs-like boson, satisfying the foliation condition, plays the role of time.