Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gravitational time dilation is a form of time dilation, an actual difference of elapsed time between two events, as measured by observers situated at varying distances from a gravitating mass. The lower the gravitational potential (the closer the clock is to the source of gravitation), the slower time passes, speeding up as the gravitational ...
Time dilation is the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks, either because of a relative velocity between them (special relativity), or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations (general relativity). When unspecified, "time dilation" usually refers to the effect due to velocity.
Gravitational time dilation near a large, slowly rotating, nearly spherical body, such as the Earth or Sun can be reasonably approximated as follows: [21] = where: t r is the elapsed time for an observer at radial coordinate r within the gravitational field;
Solutions are also used to describe the motion of binary stars around each other, and estimate their gradual loss of energy through gravitational radiation. General relativity describes the gravitational field by curved space-time; the field equations governing this curvature are nonlinear and therefore difficult to solve in a closed form.
The changing rates of clocks allowed Einstein to conclude that light waves change frequency as they move, and the frequency/energy relationship for photons allowed him to see that this was best interpreted as the effect of the gravitational field on the mass–energy of the photon. To calculate the changes in frequency in a nearly static ...
From an engineering standpoint, after the launch of the Global Positioning System (which depends on general relativity for its proper functioning [9]) and its integration into everyday life, gravitational redshift/time dilation is no longer considered a theoretical phenomenon requiring testing, but rather is considered a practical engineering ...
where the numerator is the gravitational, and the denominator is the kinematic component of the time dilation. For a particle falling in from infinity the left factor equals the right factor, since the in-falling velocity v {\textstyle v} matches the escape velocity c r s r {\textstyle c{\sqrt {\frac {r_{\text{s}}}{r}}}} in this case.
In 2010, Chou et al. performed tests in which both gravitational and velocity effects were measured at velocities and gravitational potentials much smaller than those used in the mountain-valley experiments of the 1970s. It was possible to confirm velocity time dilation at the 10 −16 level at speeds below 36 km/h. Also, gravitational time ...