The twin "paradox" and the conventionality of simultaneity

American Journal of Physics

Volumn 64, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 384-392

  Debs, Talal A ^a   Redhead, Michael L G ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0030529509     PISSN: 00029505     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1119/1.18252     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. Henri Arzelius, Relativistic Kinematics (Pergammon, Oxford, 1966), p. 187.
2. Reference 1, p. 189.
3. Michael Redhead, "The Conventionality of Simultaneity," in Philosophical Problems of Internal and External Worlds: Essays on the Philosophy of Adolf Grünbaum, edited by J. Earman, A. I. Janis, G. J. Massey, and N. Rescher (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, 1993), pp. 103-128.
4. P. Langevin, "L'Evolution de l'Espace et du Temps," Scientia 10, 31-54 (1911).
5. L. Marder, Time and the Space Traveller (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1971), p. 91.
6. For a recent treatment of the clock hypothesis see Clive Kilmister and Barrie Tonkinson, "Pragmatic Circles in Relativistic Time Keeping," in Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics: Essays in Honor of Heinz Post, edited by S. French and H. Kamminga (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1993), pp. 207-225.
7. For a discussion of th:s attempt to produce a paradox see W. H. Newton-Smith, The Structure of Time (Routledge and Kegan, London, 1980), pp. 187-195.
8. W. C. Salmon, Space, Time, and Motion: A Philosophical Introduction (Dickenson, Encino, 1975), p. 95.
9. Reference 5, p. 73.
10. For a detailed discussion of Herbert Dingle's work on the twin paradox, see H. Chang, "A Misunderstood Rebellion: The Twin Paradox Controversy and Herbert Dingle's Vision of Science," Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 24, 741-790 (1993).
11. See Ref. 4, pp. 51 and 52.
12. D. Bohm, The Special Theory of Relativity (W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1965), pp. 168-170.
13. Reference 12, p. 171.
14. Reference 12, p. 171.
15. For discussion of this version of the paradox, see Ref. 8, pp. 96-97; H. Bondi, "The Spacetraveller's Youth," Discovery 18, 505-510 (1957).
16. Reference 8, p. 97.
17. Reference 12, p. 166.
18. For discussion of this point see, in particular, E. A. Desloge and R. J. Philpott, "Uniformly Accelerated Reference Frames in Special Relativity," Am. J. Phys. 55, 252-261 (1987).
19. See Ref. 3, p. 120 FF.
20. M. Friedman, Foundations of Space-Time Theories (Princeton U.P., Princeton, 1983), p. 166.
21. See Ref. 3, p. 120.
22. J. A. Winnie, "Special Relativity Without One-Way Velocity Assumptions: Part I," Philos. Sci. 37, 81-99 (1970). While useful for illustrative purposes, it should be stressed that the Reichenbach-Winnie scheme is merely one amongst many possible coordinate systems consistent with the constraint of topological simultaneity.
23. W. C. Salmon, "The Philosophical Significance of the One-Way Speed of Light," Noûs 11, 253-292 (1987).
24. H. Erlichson, "The Conventionality of Synchronization," Am. J. Phys. 53, 53-55 (1985).
25. R. W. Brehme, "Response to 'The Conventionality of Synchronization,'" Am. J. Phys. 53, 56-59 (1985).
26. P. W. Bridgman, A Sophisticate's Primer of Relativity (Wesleyan U.P., Middletown, CT, 1962), pp. 64-67.
27. R. W. Brehme, "On the Physical Reality of the Isotropic Speed of Light," Am. J. Phys. 56, 811-813 (1988).
28. A. A. Robb, A Theory of Time and Space (Cambridge U.P., Cambridge, England, 1914). Robb's work was "rediscovered" in the 1960s. For a modern treatment see, for example, E. C. Zeeman, "Causality Implies the Lorentz Group," J. Math. Phys. 5, 490-493 (1964).
29. A. A. Robb, A Theory of Time and Space (Cambridge U.P., Cambridge, England, 1914). Robb's work was "rediscovered" in the 1960s. For a modern treatment see, for example, E. C. Zeeman, "Causality Implies the Lorentz Group," J. Math. Phys. 5, 490-493 (1964).
30. The initial stages of the analysis here follow that included in Ref. 3.
31. Both of these examples were also part of the analysis in Ref. 3.
32. Reference 12, pp. 168-169.
33. Reference 12, pp. 170-171.
34. Reference 12, p. 171.
35. Tevian Dray, "The Twin Paradox Revisited," Am. J. Phys. 58, 822-825 (1990); R. J. Low, "An Acceleration-Free Version of the Clock Paradox," Eur. J. Phys. 11, 25-27 (1990).
36. Tevian Dray, "The Twin Paradox Revisited," Am. J. Phys. 58, 822-825 (1990); R. J. Low, "An Acceleration-Free Version of the Clock Paradox," Eur. J. Phys. 11, 25-27 (1990).
37. See Ref. 34, p. 825 of Dray (1990); p. 26 of Low (1990) .
38. See Ref. 34, p. 825 of Dray (1990); p. 26 of Low (1990) .
39. See Ref. 3, pp. 124 and 125.
40. J. C. Hafele and R. E. Keating, "Around the World Atomic Clocks: Predicted Relativistic Time Gains," Science 177, 166-168 (1972); "Around the World Atomic Clocks: Observed Relativistic Time Gains," Science 177, 166-168 (1972).
41. J. C. Hafele and R. E. Keating, "Around the World Atomic Clocks: Predicted Relativistic Time Gains," Science 177, 166-168 (1972); "Around the World Atomic Clocks: Observed Relativistic Time Gains," Science 177, 166-168 (1972).
42. Reference 6, p. 214.
43. Hermann Bondi, Relativity and Common Sense; A New Approach to Einstein (Heinemann, London, 1965), pp. 34-35.
44. S. P. Boughn, "The Case of the Identically Accelerated Twins," Am. J. Phys. 57, 791-799 (1989).
45. E. A. Desloge and R. J. Philpott, "Comment on 'The case of the identically accelerated twins,' by S. P. Boughn," Am. J. Phys. 59, 280-281 (1991).
46. See, for example, the discussion in B. R. Holstein and A. R. Swift, "The Relativity Twins in Free Fall," Am. J. Phys. 40, 746-750 (1972).