Re: SR on accelerating frame of reference

Curious wrote: 
What's the general consensus in this group on the following question:
Can you apply SR principles from an accelerating frame of reference?

The consensus among knowledgeable people is that SR can indeed be applied to accelerating coordinates. Note, however, that accelerating coordinates do not truly correspond to a "frame of reference" (the difficulty is in the word "frame", because in SR the usual infinitely-extended frame cannot be constructed unless it is inertial).

	[In GR such an infinitely-extended frame can be constructed
	 only in a flat manifold (i.e. one empty of any energy or
	 mass) with suitable topology. That is precisely the
	 condition necessary to use SR (except SR can always be
	 applied _approximately_ in a local region).]


And if not, since the Earth is accelerating away from the far side of
the universe, does this pose any problems?

I have not a clue what you mean by "far side of the universe", or how you expect to establish "acceleration" relative to it.

To discuss cosmological questions (as this appears to be), one must use GR, not SR....


Tom Roberts	tjroberts@xxxxxxxxxx
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