Created by: roberto.c.alfredo in physics on Jul 9, 2025, 4:04 AM
1. Setting the Scene
Imagine two perfectly synchronized clocks. Now place one on a spaceship traveling at high speed and leave the other on Earth. When they reunite, you’ll discover something incredible: the clocks no longer show the same time. How can this be? The answer lies in the relativity of simultaneity.
2. Relativity of Simultaneity: What Does “Now” Mean?
Two observers moving relative to each other will disagree on whether two events occur “at the same time.” What is simultaneous for one might not be for the other, thanks to the Lorentz transformations.
Mathematical Reminder (Lorentz Transformations): $$ t = \gamma\bigl(t_0 + \frac{v\,x_0}{c^2}\bigr), \quad x = \gamma\bigl(x_0 + v\,t_0\bigr) \\[4pt] \text{where}\quad \gamma = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - v^2/c^2}} $$
If you’re interested in the math behind these transformations, see The Spacetime Invariant: From Minkowski to 𝐸² = 𝑝²𝑐² + 𝑚²𝑐⁴.
3. Time Dilation: Time Depends on Speed
Historically, in 1971 Joseph Hafele and Richard Keating flew atomic clocks around the world on airplanes and confirmed Einstein’s predicted dilation in situ. They compared the flown clocks to ones left on the ground and found they recorded different time intervals, just as special relativity predicts.
The duration of a time interval depends on the motion of the observer measuring it. Mathematically: $$ \Delta t = \gamma\,\Delta \tau \quad\text{where}\quad \gamma = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - v^2/c^2}} $$