The Twin Paradox
Habish Ribin Haneef
There are enormous strange incidents and phenomena occurring throughout the world. People are more interested in such phenomena and they may be very eager and curious to sort out the real reason behind these strange occurings. Time travel is one among such topics that made many people crazy and enthusiastic. Research related to this topic is still going on and the world is curiously waiting for an answer. Another interesting phenomenon related to time travel is “The Twin Paradox”. Many of you would be familiar with the twin paradox, but still, there are many who do not know what the phenomenon is. What is the twin paradox? What is the reason behind this strange and confusing phenomenon? Is the twin paradox real? Answers to all these bizarre questions are well explained in this blog.
Paradox is one having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases. So, what is the Twin Paradox? As the name indicates, the twin paradox is based on identical twins. An example will make things perfect. Consider two identical twins of the same age- Neena and Teena. Neena travels to space in a high-speed rocket near the speed of light and Teena stays on Earth. But the weird fact is that when Neena returns home she finds herself to be younger and her sister Teena to be older. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, It is considered that time runs more slowly in Neena’s rocket compared to that on the Earth. Hence, when Neena returns to Earth, she will be younger than her sister. But, the bewildering fact in relativity is that what a viewer sees as happening to the next viewer, the next viewer sees as happening to the first viewer. So, now things will be vice versa. Time moves very slowly on the Earth compared to that in space and now Neena, who is in the rocket, will be older than her twin sister on Earth, Teena. This strange phenomenon is termed as Twin Paradox. The Twin Paradox is a problem that includes relativistic time dilation, from Einstein’s theory of relativity.
What actually happened?
This phenomenon has been really confusing, right? Anyways, let’s sort out all that confusion. As we all know, Neena in the rocket is travelling at a very high speed and would have experienced the effects of relativity. So that Neena would have experienced only a few months and on the other hand, Teena on Earth would have experienced many years. The times Neena and Teena experience can be calculated using the equation of time dilation, 1 over the square root of the quantity. According to relativity, either person can consider themselves to be stationary. So if Neena thinks of herself as stationary in the rocket and assumes that Teena on Earth has travelled at a high speed and returned, what will happen? In this case, it is Teena who will be younger than her twin sister. So, here there is no logic in assuming that both the sisters are younger than the other one. Hence, only one of the two sisters will be right and this is the process of the twin paradox.
Conclusion:
The process of the twin paradox or twin problem is hence real because the travelling twin will clearly see the Earth clock moving slowly. But, it is not necessary to call this phenomenon a paradox. Science has too many strange phenomena like this which are yet to be discovered or partially discovered that will make you think deeper utilizing your brain up to the maximum. Time travel is such a concept that is quite interesting and at the same time intimidating. With technology at its peak development and revolution, let’s hope that one-day answers to all these curious questions will be delivered successfully.
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Check your knowledge
Paradox is one having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases.
Albert Einstein
1 over the square root of the quantity