Quote:
Originally Posted by RussT
And yet, for over 100 years now, it has gone completely unnoticed, that the distance from observer A to observer B, 'has been contracted to 0', by assuming that if the light beam sinks their clocks to 0, that because both clocks say 0, that their "Nows" are together/simultaneous, even though they are completely motionless/stationary!!!That is it in a nutshell.
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The distance between A and B in your example (not Einstein's...) has not been contracted to zero. Since they are motionless in respect to each other, i.e. in the same inertial reference time frame, SR is not applicable.
If the light beam source is exactly between them, then the photons will reach both A and B at the same time. Both clocks of the observers are clicking at the same rate. Their "nows", in the sense of observing different events around them occuring, will be slightly different nonetheless, since they are at separate locations and the photons reaching them from the different events around them will be traveling slightly different distances.