Alternatives to relativity (split from Gravitation waves and the aether)

[disarray]

As a layperson, I get the impression that, with respect to explaining the nature of time dilation, there is some speculation that one can emphasize the more materialistic role that variations in mass(/gravitation) might play in certain situations rather than the more mathematical role that variations in spacetime plays:

 

Ex. 1: Cordus Time Theory:

 

"It is known from general relativity that a body experiences time dilation in any of the following three situations: relativistic velocity, or acceleration, or in a high gravitation field. According to the Cordus time theory, all these are situations of greater fabric density: the first because the fast-moving particule is at a speed approaching that of the fabric [of spacetime] itself and therefore emission of the particule’s discrete forces is resisted (from the perspective of the particule, the external fabric is saturated), the second because the accelerating particule emits discrete forces which it then moves into, thus creating its own locally high fabric density, and the third because high gravitation field is intrinsically a high external fabric density. https://cordus.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/how-does-time-dilation-work/

 

(Comment) Space time density should be the reason for time dilation, light and time remain relative within it. If you had a chunk of space time that was reduced some way in density, time should move faster, the same goes for light, space time may be regulated by the mass of the virtual particles or matter, the more mass in one region of space time, the slower things interact with each other."

Ex. 2: James Carter approach:

"If we discard the metaphysical idea of gravitational potential then there is no mystery or need for General Relativity to explain the gravitational changes of clock rates. The cause of gravitational time dilation can only be attributed to a simple Lorentz Transformation of mass resulting from the different escape velocities of these locations. The higher escape velocity at the Dead Sea causes an increase in the mass of that clock’s internal mechanism and this slows the clock’s rate through the conservation of angular momentum." http://www.circlon.com/living-universe/020-einstein-gravity-time-dilation.html

I like the standard dilation-of-spacetime explanation that time dilates as one inertial framework zooms off from another one as illustrated by the notion that as one moves off in a rocket at, for example, a velocity near the speed of c, one is going almost as fast as the flow of EM waves in the universe, so that the movement of massive bodies, e.g,, movement of clock hands or trains (fapp: for all practical purposes) slows down, just as debris (things in the universe) in a river seems to flow more slowly if one is in a boat adrift in a stream in comparison to what a man standing on the shore looking ahead at the middle of the stream sees. ( It doesn't matter in which direction the rocket is going since the universe expands equally in all directions and there is no center of the universe).

 

However, it seems that mass and angular momentum also increase greatly, esp., as the rocket (in the twin thought experiment) approaches the speed of c, so that one might devise mathematical models that argue that spacetime per se doesn't dilate, but rather 'massive' things within it become for (or less) compressed/dense, thereby moving more slowly and with increased angular momentum.

 

So again, I am not sure how one distinguishes between variations in spacetime and variations of mass within spacetime when it comes to saying what causes time to dilate. Do variations in spacetime ("fabric") cause changes in mass and velocity of massive things, or do changes in mass/velocity cause variations in spacetime, or are spacetime/mass so interwoven that one can't have one without the other, and neither on its own can be said to be the cause of time dilation.

 

It seems that gravity is central to an explanation as to what causes the universe to expand. Also, it seems that it is necessary for spacetime to expand (otherwise we would have no arrow of time) in order for time effects such as time dilation to take place.

Edited August 5, 2016 by disarray

[swansont]

 

Ex. 2: James Carter approach:

"If we discard the metaphysical idea of gravitational potential then there is no mystery or need for General Relativity to explain the gravitational changes of clock rates. The cause of gravitational time dilation can only be attributed to a simple Lorentz Transformation of mass resulting from the different escape velocities of these locations. The higher escape velocity at the Dead Sea causes an increase in the mass of that clock’s internal mechanism and this slows the clock’s rate through the conservation of angular momentum." http://www.circlon.com/living-universe/020-einstein-gravity-time-dilation.html

 

"clock's internal mechanism" depending on angular momentum sounds very classical to me, but even so, I don't see how that is supposed to work. It might apply in the circumstance of an oscillating or rotating disc, whose moment of inertia depends on its mass, but a pendulum, for example, depends on the length of the arm and not the mass. If we had a circumstance where g was constant, moving a pendulum up or down in the well would cause a time dilation effect, without the annoying problem of changing g as we have on earth. What angular momentum is changing that affects the clock rate? Angular momentum isn't even a conserved quantity for a pendulum!

 

And we could look at real clock experiments as well. What is the angular momentum change in the Pound-Rebka experiment, with the shift from resonance of the radioactive decay?

 

The bottom line is that any proposed explanation that relies on a mechanical effect of any sort is going to end up being flawed, because the dilation is the same for many different constructs of clocks.