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0 votes
1 answer
184 views

If I make the entire universe rotate, will the bucket appear to be rotating?

Newton's bucket experiment is a way to tell if you are in a rotating frame. If you have a bucket of water which is spinning the water surface will form a concave shape. Likewise, if the bucket is not ...
AccidentalTaylorExpansion's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
165 views

Does Mach's principle imply that the gravitational field has a non-zero curl?

I would normally visualize the gravitational field as "radial", i.e., one whose curl is zero. However, while thinking about Mach's principle, particularly the notion of frame-dragging (as ...
Tfovid's user avatar
  • 1,325
5 votes
1 answer
169 views

Can rotation be distinguished from frame-dragging?

I am trapped inside the usual elevator and experiencing a comfortable gravitational field of about 1 g. Or perhaps it's an acceleration of 1 g. I cannot tell which. However, I notice when I drop an ...
Roger Wood's user avatar
  • 2,403
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

We know there is no aether, so what is being dragged in frame dragging?

I have read this question: In stellar frame dragging what is the 'frame'? There are several questions on this site about frame dragging, all of them take the frame that is being dragged as an ...
Árpád Szendrei's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
475 views

Is MTW's argument in favor of Mach's principle valid?

Looking at older books, I was surprised to see that the general relativity "bible" by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler is very strongly in favor of Mach's principle, which is treated in section ...
knzhou's user avatar
  • 103k
3 votes
0 answers
220 views

Is there an absolute accelerated frame of reference?

I know from special relativity and from a little common sense that there is no absolute inertial frame of reference; that is, physics acts the same no matter what velocity you go at. However, that ...
god of llamas's user avatar