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Originally Posted by Celestial Mechanic
(for an outside observer)
1. The light heads towards the wall at c.
2. The light heads towards the wall at c.
3. The light heads out at c in a different direction (rotated toward your direction of motion) but still with no bending.
4. The light heads forwards at a slight angle to your direction of motion at c, ultimately hitting the floor.
I know it sounds weird, but that's the way the geometry of spacetime works.
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Yep, but you left something out: an outside observer will see the light as having different frequencies:
1. The light heads forward at c
but at a much higher frequency (that is, each photon has more energy) and if your flashlight emits a cone of light, the angle of the cone will be much narrower.
2. The light heads towards the rear wall at c
but at a lower frequency, with the cone broadened.
For 3 and 4, the frequency will not change because the emission is perpendicular to the direction of travel.
Note that in cases 1 and 2, for such a large fraction of the speed of light we would be talking about (1)high energy gamma rays and (2)radio waves.