Invariant Simultaneity
Measuring simultaneity in Newton's mechanics
In 1905, Einstein defined a procedure for detecting the simultaneity of distant events, a procedure that entailed that the simultaneity of distant events can vary among observers moving relative to one another.
Yet the question remained: could Newton’s classical mechanics articulate a procedure to measure invariant distant simultaneity?
Classical physicists could imagine such a process, if only signals of infinite speed existed, but that was imaginary. Similarly, they could imagine clocks that are not affected by motions, but that was only imaginary.
So the question is, could a procedure establish simultaneity in Newton's mechanics without without imaginary factors?
In 1992 I found that within classical physics it is possible to produce invariant measurements of distant simultaneity. In this procedure, observers ascertain simultaneity by using mechanical projectiles, with speeds that depend on their source, that is, projectiles emitted mechanically from sources attached to each reference frame.
“Seemingly Impossible Measurements”
Kinematics: The Lost Origins of Einstein’s Relativity (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), 368-375.
“Understanding Simultaneity”
Master's Thesis, New York University, 1995.
“A Myth about the Speed of Light”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 172-192.
“Conventions and Inertial Reference Frames”
American Journal of Physics 73, No. 5 (May 2005), 452-454.
“Review: Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond, by Max Jammer,” Physics Today, Vol. 60, No. 8 (August 2007), 58-59.
“Reply to Hans C. Ohanian,” Martinez Writings (June 2011), pp. 1-17, http://www.martinezwritings.com/m/Ohanian.html
“Material History and Imaginary Clocks: Poincaré, Einstein, and Galison on Simultaneity,” Physics in Perspective 6, No. 2 (June 2004), 31-48.
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BIO
Alberto Martinez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a professor at UT Austin, he investigates the history of science, especially Einstein and relativity theory, history of math, historical myths, and Giordano Bruno and Galileo. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also researches myths in political news media, The Eyes of Texas, and episodes in the history of money and corruption.
Now, he's finishing writing a novel about Albert Einstein.