The Behavior Of Time ( Frame of Reference )

What is a frame of reference?

Time is the most interesting concept of modern physics, we experience time, we can differentiate the past from the present and we can feel the moment. But what about the future, does it exist, is it set in stone, if so why can't we experience it or feel it. There is a lot to cover about time, but the main focus of today's blog is how time is relative to each person, and by that, I mean how each of us perceives time differently. This was predicted by Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, as explained by the American Musem Of Natural History, "The faster a clock moves, the slower time passes according to someone in a different frame of reference. To explain this bewildering result, physicists point to a thought experiment involving a clock that uses light to mark time. Although this "light clock" experiment is a hypothetical one, the same effects are true for any timepiece, from old-fashioned grandfather clocks to atomic clocks, the most accurate time-keeping devices available. Time is relative even for the human body, which is in essence a biological clock. The effect of time slowing down is negligible at speeds of everyday life, but it becomes very pronounced at speeds approaching that of light." Another factor in time dilation is gravity (time slows down as gravity increases, this means that height off the ground directly affects time), people on the ISS seem to age slower than people on Earth, which provides further evidence of time not following a universal clock. One more factor I would just like to mention is speed, a moving clock ticks slower.

Gravity's effect on time, Source : Phys.org

How speed effects time, Source : tamdistrict.org

How time differs for each of us ?

You watch as your best friend is approaching the event horizon of a black hole, as the effects of the gravitational field increase you watch as he/her's motion slows down, and eventually, he is stuck in space. Since the area, he/she entered's nature is different than the place you are observing from, your perspective of time is much different from what they are experiencing. As you watch them freeze in time, in their perspective they have probably already entered the singularity. Let me further explain what I mean, your friend experienced time regularly, by 10 seconds in their perspective, they may have reached the inside of the black hole, but for 10 seconds in your perspective, they are frozen in time right and has barely made progress in getting close to the black hole. This means that a second in their perspective could be an eternity for you since time passes slower for them. ( I got really confused and had to read this out at least 4 times :( ). Another example is the movie Interstellar when the crew gets onto the first planet, they spend nearly an hour which results in the scientists on the ship waiting around 10 years, same concept, different situation.

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Recapping the paragraph above, Source : medium.com

Sub Topic / Sneak Peak  : How Observation Effects Outcome

Perhaps one of the most interesting topics in physics is how observation affects outcome, this is a complex topic in the Quantum realm and describes the event named The Collapse of The Wave Function ( Friday's topic). To give you all a sneak peek, let us say I was to measure the distribution of photons across two slits onto a sensor screen. If I were to not observe any of the slits, I would get the regular distribution, but what if I observed covered a slit, or only observed a single slit, how would it interfere with the pattern, find this Thursday :D.