Skip to main content
1 of 3
twmen
  • 49
  • 4

Twin Paradox doppler resolution

Am I missing something when I use doppler to explain why the twin Paradox is not a paradox.

(wikipedia) The paradox centers on the contention that, in relativity, either twin could regard the other as the traveler, in which case each should find the other younger—a logical contradiction.

Let's say Bob and Alice are twins who can measure each other's wavelength shift. As they move apart, they will see eachother red-shift. If you see a person red-shifted, you see them in slow motion, and if you see them blue-shifted you see them in fast forward. (Einstein thought about looking at the hands of the clock tower while moving away from them in a tram).

Scenario 1: Bob moves away and Alice stays put. Both instantaneously see eachother red-shift. At some point, Bob decides to stop and move back towards alice. Immediately Bob will see Alice blue shift. But Alice will have to wait until the light of the turnaround event has reached her, before she will see Bob blue-shift. Bob will see Alice red/blue 50% / 50% of his travel time, and Alice will see Bob more red than blue. So Bob will have aged less.

Scenario 2: Bob and Alice both move away from eachother at half the speed that Bob did in Scenario 1. Both turn around at the same time, and both will see eachother red/blue 50% of the time. They will have the same age. Both can clearly distinghuish this situation from the first, and also now they both have to agree on their turnaround timing, while in Scenario 1, Bob could decide by himself whenever he wanted to turn.

Scenario 3: Alice moves away, Bob stays put, the reverse of Scenario 1. Now Alice will instantly see Bob's color change as she reverses direction, thus making her the traveler.

It seems to me that after Bob and Alice reunite and compare measurements, it should be possible for them to figure out who was the traveler. Or at least who traveled the most.

twmen
  • 49
  • 4