About Synchronisation of Clocks in Free Fall Around a Central Body

TL;DR

This paper examines how clock synchronization methods behave in free-fall conditions around a central body, highlighting that only absolute simultaneity synchronization remains consistent for circular orbits in Schwarzschild spacetime.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in accelerated systems, only absolute simultaneity synchronization aligns with natural clock behavior, especially in circular orbits within Schwarzschild metrics.

Findings

Synchronization in inertial frames is experimentally equivalent to special relativity.

Absolute simultaneity synchronization is necessary for consistent time definition in circular orbits.

Any synchronization can be used locally in a freely falling frame.

Abstract

The conventional nature of synchronisation is discussed in inertial frames, where it is found that theories using different synchronisations are experimentally equivalent to special relativity. In contrary, in accelerated systems only a theory maintaining an absolute simultaneity is consistent with the natural behaviour of clocks. The principle of equivalence is discussed, and it is found that any synchronisation can be used locally in a freely falling frame. Whatever the choosen synchronisation, the first derivatives of the metric tensor disapear and a geodesic is locally a straight line. But it is shown that only a synchronisation maintaining an absolute simultaneity allows to define time consistently on circular orbits of a Schwarzschild metric. Key words: special and general relativity, synchronisation, one-way velocity of light, ether, principle of equivalence.