Ziggurat
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2003
- Messages
- 61,643
Vorpal: yes, the locally measured speed of light appears to be unchanged.
Appears to be unchanged? No, Farsight, it is unchanged.
It’s like you’ve plunged a mechanical clock into an oil-bath. The local environment is different, the viscosity makes the cogs and gears move slower.
No, Farsight. The critical difference is that in this example, the degree of slowing depends on the details of the clock. Pick a different clock, even a different mechanical clock, and you will find that your clocks no longer agree when immersed in oil. It is precisely this fact which allows us to say that the slowing of a mechanical clock in oil is an artifact of the oil's interaction with the clock, and not an actual time dilation. But gravitational time dilation applies uniformly, regardless of the details of the clock. ANY clock which operates locally will experience it, and to the same degree. Why? Because the local speed of light IS unchanged.
....yes, thanks for that, PoK.