Recent content by Sophrosyne

I see. This distinction you are making between between “seeing” and “calculating” is hugely helpful. Thank you for the clarification. This is making more sense now. They don’t really make that distinction in the usual popular explanations of this, For those who actually want to think about it...

Got it- I think. I have to chew on this a little more though to make sense of it. Thank you for your responses. They were helpful!

OK, I think I am starting to see what you are saying. So right now, using the word “see” as in what you can see with your eyes, the alien would see events speeding up on earth as he approaches, Even though the calculated time on earth will be slower. Am I understanding this correctly? But...

On the return leg of the journey, the alien is going to see the stationary twin as younger than the one sitting next to him. Then he is going to see that stationary twin visibly aging faster in his telescope than the traveling twin he is sitting next to- as he supposedly sees the stationary...

Thank you, that graph is helpful. As far as question 2: as one object approaches another at relativistic speeds, each sees the other as time dilated, ie, their click as running slower. But when the traveling twin is returning towards earth, the alien will be seeing time speeding up on the...

I am looking at some of the threads on the twin paradox, and getting even more confused. I have been trying to run through the details of what each twin is seeing, and was wondering if I could get some help. I am just trying to imagine how each twin is “seeing” the other twin at each step as the...

In Feynman’s path integrals, there is: ∫dq″Π0(t″,t′;q″,q′)=1 What is the funny pi looking symbol?

But light measured to have polarization at, say, 90 degrees, is an observed phenomenon, not a superposition state. You can’t have a single photon polarized at 90 degrees?

I see. Thank you for the response. It’s making some sense to me, but I have to admit I am still struggling to understand. So in trying to understand the correspondence of the quantum states to the observables, let me ask a few questions and see how it would be answered. How would you complete...

So is it possible to have a single photon linearly polarized? If so, what would that correspond to in terms of spin?

Sure. For example in post #11 https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/photon-spin.41358/: “2. A bunch of photons with either -1 or +1 spin correspond to a left or right circularly polarized light (or the opposite). If you have 50% of photons in one state and 50% in the other, you have linearly...

I was just reading on this forum (and other sources) about the relationship between photon spin and the polarization of light. From what I have gathered, photon spin corresponds to circular polarization: +1 and -1 spins correspond to right and left helical polarizations. So I have a few...

That’s the dip. It’s kinda like Navy Seals training. They put you through the most physically, emotionally, and mentally grueling exercises and situations. Many people do not have the stamina, fortitude, and mental toughness to make it, and drop out of the program. They figure out it’s just not...

So as Again, thanks for that link. I am still working on reading and digesting it. But as a related question: if two spaceships are approaching each other at near the speed of light at constant velocity, relativistically they would see each other’s watches running slow. But by Doppler effects...

There is a great business book I read once, called The Dip, which you may find interesting and is applicable to gaining technical expertise and mastery in any field, whether it’s physics, playing a particular sport or musical instrument, or doing surgery. It’s a short book and a nice read for...