What amuses me is that philosophers are cognitively biased to ‘B’-theory block time and drag physicists with them ‘because of the relativity of simultaneity’ in special relativity. Therefore all Planck phenomena have parity. It’s one way to get published and therefore tenure I suppose. As the past is real it’s only one step to finding it. And the next to going there.
I don’t believe that. The paths are progressively longer left to right for the guy in the elevator. Therefore light must take longer to travel them for him. Because it can’t accelerate to take the same time. For the guy shining the light the paths are all the same length and therefore take the same time.
No, the light travels in a straight line and the wall remains at the same distance at all times (vertical motion). Therefore nothing happens to the light at all. It merely travels the distance to the opposite wall.
It is the observer inside the box who experiences the appearance of the light bending but still approaching the wall @ c
It is true that in this scenario the light seems to travel a longer curved path, but it doesn’t in reality! One of the examples of relativity. Remarkable!
No. If an observer sees it angle or curve (acceleratingly angle), then that’s reality. That’s RoS for you.
It is reality for the observer but he is traveling away at an angle, the light isn’t. It is a straight beam traveling the same distance towards the opposite but moving wall and arrives there at the same time as when the box was stationary.
Fact, the horizontal distance to the wall inside the box doesn’t change.
It clearly demonstrates relativity, where the the man inside the box physically experiences gravity and observes the light to bend down. But the experience of gravity is only the equivalent to acceleration. Einstein unlocked the secret.
So the observer sees light travelling faster than light? Can you find a physicist who agrees with you? The prior link doesn’t.
No, because for the observer inside the box time has slowed down up and the speed of the light remains relatively the same.
Due to the acceleration, time in the box has slowed down for all things inside the box except the light beam itself. It remains straight and always reaches the opposite wall at the same time, regardless of the upward motion of the box.
You can do the experiment yourself
box- | <---------- | 
wall |
box accelerating up
box- |
wall | <--------- |
The light coming from the outside does not move with the box. Only the box moves up.
So why do you have angled paths? Are they real or not?
In this example the box is travelling downward at a steady rate that causes the appearance of a straight diagonal path as well as the physical experience of weightlessness.
The light path is straight in either case when viewed from outside the box.
But to the observer in the box the light will have an upward appearance as the box travels down while the light traverses the width of the box.
Visualize the box accelerating downward at near SOL and the box is 10 meters wide. The box will have traveled downward nearly 10 meters while the light is crossing the 10 meters.
in this example the light will appear to rise to the man in the box
So why the angle if the light - travelling at 1 foot per nanosecond - doesn’t do that?
martin-peter-clarke
So why the angle if the light - travelling at 1 foot per nanosecond - doesn’t do that?
It’s not the light that moves, its the box with the man inside that moves!
The experiment assumes the box moving up or down at near 1 ft per nano second . So the box moves vertically up or down 1ft for every horizontal ft of the light. (note there is only a single burst of light coming in through the hole in the wall from the outside as the box moves past the light source)
The light does NOT move with the box! (it came from outside the box)
This is also the reason why the man in this example is weightless and floating upward and if the box was travelling upward he would feel gravitational pressure against the floor.
I don’t understand the angle. Which way is the light going?
Horizontal… from the hole in the wall to the opposite wall while the box is moving up or down past the light source.
Let me restate the thought experiment scene more clearly.
(this would be the box accelerating upward at near SOL!)
- In space we have a light source.
- In space below the light source there is a man in a box accelerating upward @ near SOL.
- the box has a small opening in the wall
- as the box accelerates past the light source the light enters the hole in the wall of the box momentarily and traverses horizontally the width of the box , while the box continues to accelerate vertically upward.
- during the very small time it takes for the light to traverse the width of the box, the box has traversed upward almost the same distance as the width of the box.
- If the box had stood still the light would show a perfect horizontal line to the opposite wall of the box.
- But the box is moving upward while the light is traversing the distance to the opposite wall, and the light will now hit the opposite wall at a lower spot than if the box had stood still.
- to the man in the box who has only the box as a reference it will look like the outside light came in from the hole at an angle and hit the opposite wall at a lower spot than perfectly horizontal.
- The man in the box also will experience a downward gravitational pressure as the box continues to accelerate upward.
This is a perfect example of relativity where things are (appear) different depending on the observer’s POV.
I am not making this up. This is Einstein’s work that completely revolutionized science.
L>R or R>L? Looking at it. From here.
In the illustration where the box travels down at a steady rate the light entered from the right and to the man in the box, who is stationary relative to the box, the light beam appears to rise diagonally to the left and hit the left wall higher than it came in from the right wall.
Any observer outside the box sees the the light going straight but sees the box move vertically downward making the light hit the left wall higher than the height it came into the box from the right wall.
So there are no angles. Except in the image of the path on the elevator wall. Oooh! Which must develop faster than light!!! ( 
)
Why are you making this complicated?
Why do skeet shooters aim ahead of the target? If you were sitting on a target you would see the bullet follow a curved path to you before it caught up and split you in half… 
The shooter would see the bullet fly straight, but would see the target catch up to the bullet’s path… 
This is the essence of Relativity. This is the very example what Einstein used to prove the concept, along with the physical proof provided by Eddington.
Because you’re missing something.
No , you are. You see a still picture and are missing the condition that the box is in motion as the light is crossing the width of the box and therefore cannot hit the opposite wall at the exact same height it came in from the opposite wall.
p.s. the single hole is essential in the experiment. We are looking at a single light beam coming in from the outside for a single instant as the box passes the light source…