Inertial Frames and Clock Rates

TL;DR

This paper examines the concept of inertial frames in relativity, analyzing how the assumption of inertiality affects the twin paradox and proposing a universe-scale criterion for inertial frame identification.

Contribution

It clarifies the role of inertial frames in the twin paradox by linking inertiality to the universe's large-scale structure, offering a new perspective on frame relative inertiality.

Findings

Inertial frames can be identified by their motion relative to the universe's large-scale structure.

Implicit assumptions of inertiality influence resolutions of the twin paradox.

Explicitly defining inertial frames helps clarify relativistic effects.

Abstract

This article revisits the historiography of the problem of inertial frames. Specifically, the case of the twins in the clock paradox is considered to see that some resolutions implicitly assume inertiality for the non-accelerating twin. If inertial frames are explicitly identified by motion with respect to the large scale structure of the universe, it makes it possible to consider the relative inertiality of different frames.