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A suggested experiment on the clock paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

W. Cochran
W. Cochran
Affiliation:
Cavendish Laboratory Cambridge
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Abstract

An experiment is suggested to settle the question whether two clocks which are synchronized and subsequently separated must necessarily show identical readings on being brought together again. Charged π-mesons play the role of a clock travelling with a velocity comparable with c, this clock being read by passing the mesons through a scintillation counter or counters. It is pointed out that the experiment can be designed in a way which makes it technically feasible for a laboratory possessing an accelerating machine capable of producing mesons in the 100 Me V. energy range.

Some considerations suggested by the proposed experiment are examined, and it is concluded that only the orthodox result—that in general the two clocks will record the passage of different time intervals between successive coincidences—is consistent with the result of an experiment which has already been made, or with the special theory of relativity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , July 1957 , pp. 646 - 650
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Philosophical Society 1957

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References

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