Relativity Isoframes—A Useful and Potentially Unifying Conceptual Framework

Eugene Terry Tatum

doi:10.4236/jmp.2021.126046

Abstract

This brief note introduces the conceptual framework of special and general relativity isoclocks and isoframes. Isoclocks and isoframes, as defined herein, can be used to create geometrical maps of space and time (“space-time”) with and without matter embedded. They are useful for having a mental picture of space-time relationships without having to picture 4-dimensional manifolds, which very few students and scientists are able to do. With the aid of the optical lensing definition of curvature as inverse radius, a new gravitational force equation is derived, which also incorporates Einstein’s mass/energy relation in the mx term. Thus, one may see how it is that gravitational force correlates with its time-embedded curvature-squared (Cx2) space in a more accurate formulation than could be envisioned by Newton. This becomes more apparent in high gamma fields, such as found near a black hole horizon. It is hoped that probability theories, such as quantum field theories in curved space-time, might be adaptable to the general relativity isoframe concept introduced herein.

Highlights

Introduction and BackgroundKip Thorne, who shared the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for his theoretical work on black holes, began his Black Holes & Time Warps book [1] with thought experiments for three black holes of radically-different sizes
One can map out a special relativity Minkowskiian space-time isoframe in the following way
This paper has introduced readers to the definition and mapping of isoclocks and isoframes in special and general relativity

Summary

Introduction

Kip Thorne, who shared the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for his theoretical work on black holes, began his Black Holes & Time Warps book [1] with thought experiments for three black holes of radically-different sizes. As Thorne pointed out on page 33 of his book, bizarre things should happen to radio signals received by observers as the transmitter approaches very close to the horizon of a black hole of any size. For observers falling into a black hole, it is an entirely different perspective (i.e., reference frame), but that is not the focus of this paper

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Discussion

Conclusion