TITLE:
Einstein’s Concept of Clock Synchronization Conflicts with the Second Relativity Postulate
AUTHORS:
Steven D. Deines
KEYWORDS:
Special Relativity, Simultaneity, Clock Synchronization, Photon Speed, Lorentz Transformation, Galilean Transformation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Modern Physics,
Vol.15 No.7,
June
19,
2024
ABSTRACT: Einstein defined clock synchronization whenever photon pulses with time
tags traverse a fixed distance between two clocks with equal time spans in
either direction. Using the second relativity postulate, he found clocks
mounted on a rod uniformly moving parallel with the rod’s length cannot be
synchronized, but clocks attached to a stationary rod can. He dismissed this
discrepancy by claiming simultaneity and clock synchronization were not common
between inertial frames, but this paper proves with both Galilean and Lorentz
transformations that simultaneity and clock synchronization are preserved
between inertial frames. His derivation means moving clocks can never be
synchronized in a “resting” inertial frame. Ultraprecise atomic clocks in
timekeeping labs daily contradict his results. No algebraic error occurred in
Einstein’s derivations. The two cases of clocks
attached to a rod reveal three major conflicts with the current
second postulate. The net velocity between a photon source and detector plus
the “universal” velocity c is mathematically equivalent to
Einstein’s clock synchronization method. As the ultraprecise timekeeping
community daily synchronizes atomic clocks on the moving Earth with
ultraprecise time uncertainty well below Einstein’s lowest limit of
synchronization, the theoretical resolution of the apparent conflict is
accomplished by expanding the second relativity postulate to incorporate the
net velocity between the photon source and detector with the emitted velocity c as components of the total velocity c. This means the magnitude
of the total photon velocity can exceed the speed limit (299792458 m/s) set by the standard velocity c.