3/3 • ERA • Relativistic Flow and Aberration - illustrated RobertE�araldsenRobert E� araldsen
can not� So, what is the
true
perspective? The simple answer is that truth of measurement is only a matter
of reference to subjectively dened space-time parameters. Just like
time
has no
absolute
meaning inrelativity theory, neither can an objects
position
be dened objectively from differently moving observers!
owever, if we use acceleration as the sole reference, we can measure time intervals of theongoing acceleration, and we may say that we have broken the ‘speed limit’� From a relativistic space-time perspective we never return to the same point, as in spacetime there is no such point (unless we
nd ‘wormholes’ leading back in time). We might think that the Earth rotating around the Sun each year
returns to the same place in space� Nonetheless, the movement is a spiral in spacetime�The
equivalence principle
suggests that gravity is acceleration, and thus we can even say we arecontinuously breaking the speed limit once a year since we are accelerating with g on the surface of theEarth� Relativistic aberration, together with quantum effects, warps spacetime giving the ‘illusion’ of acircular orbit around what we call ‘Sun’� This must be the case if the equivalence principle is correct andquantum effects apply to the way we perceive macrocosmos�
3) Relativistic time
For two observer’s velocities increasing as they are parting from each other, relativity theorygives us a formula that shows how time,
t
, is affected, as measured by the each observer’s clock:Any short period of time,
t
, for any two co-moving observes will be measured as extremelyprolonged (
t´
) when measured as their relative velocities
v
approach the speed of light
c
�As an example, this would mean that an observer accelerating with only g (which is the
same as the gravity ‘push’ we feel from the earth) would reach the speed of light in a year.
4) Relativistic aberration of light
Now we have a look at the
relativistic aberration
formula that describes how an object’sapparent angle of view changes, as seen from an accelerating observer: The relativistic shift of theangle, , is conditioned by the ratio through the relation: The formula shows that for any measured original angle relative to an observer, when, this angle is shifted towards
= π, as measured in radians. Plainly the equation shows that all
objects surrounding an observer at rest, shift to a direct frontal position relative to the observer
approaching the speed of light (see more relating to this below).
From the viewpoint of each observer parting with accelerating speed, the image of the othergets stretched in space and time over the celestial sphere of the former—and vice versa� This canalso be described as one being inside the other� Such a description obviously may seem strange—but by substituting the observers for photons it may be somewhat easier to accept� As we will seethere is also an important difference between objects with and without rest-mass�It is an experimentally tested fact that when a photon-pair are shot off in opposite directionsthey are shown to act as one entity - no matter how far they are separated when measured; adisturbance applied to one can immediately be registered in its twin, as if there has been an exchangeof information travelling faster than light� This is a remarkable and experimentally tested qualityabout the real world�
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