The Behaviour of Clocks and Rods in Special and General Relativity

TL;DR

This paper explores the interpretation of clock rates in special and general relativity, emphasizing the distinction between clocks running slow and those recording smaller intervals, affecting the understanding of relativistic physics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of clock behavior and reciprocity in inertial frames, clarifying conceptual differences in relativistic time measurement.

Findings

Distinction between clocks running slow and recording smaller intervals

Reciprocity between inertial frames is crucial for interpretation

Underlying physics differs despite formal relativistic predictions

Abstract

While adhering to the formalism of Special and General Relativity, this paper considers the interpretation of clock rates and the rating of clocks in detail. We also pay particular attention to the crucial requirement of reciprocity between inertial frames. Our overriding concern is to bring out a distinction between clocks which run slow (slowly) in the everyday sense and those which record a smaller time interval between specific event pairs - while running at the standard rate. The day by day application of relativistic formalism is not affected, but the underlying physics is changed.