undefined | Better HN

0 pointsDylan1680711y ago0 comments

Delays do not affect ordering.

Relativity means that observers with different velocities view timings differently.

Mere distances do not matter.

Pick a reference frame for your protocol, and relativity stops being a problem. (Hint: If all endpoints are on Earth you probably won't have enough precision to even need to compensate for relativistic effects.)

0 comments

robotresearcher11y ago

Delays alone do affect the ordering perceived by receivers at different locations.

Dylan16807OP11y ago

Only for a very misleading definition of ordering. Delays affect the order in which receivers see events, but the receivers can compensate for transmission factors and calculate the exact same times for all events.

Except when relativity kicks in from the observers moving at different speeds. Now events that are outside each other's light cones have no objective order.

robotresearcher11y ago

That definition of ordering is of course the standard, everyday definition. And to guarantee correct compensation for transmission factors in the same frame, do we not require perfectly synchronized local clocks: impossible in general?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsDylan1680711y ago0 comments

Delays do not affect ordering.

Relativity means that observers with different velocities view timings differently.

Mere distances do not matter.

0 comments

robotresearcher11y ago

Delays alone do affect the ordering perceived by receivers at different locations.

Dylan16807OP11y ago

Except when relativity kicks in from the observers moving at different speeds. Now events that are outside each other's light cones have no objective order.

robotresearcher11y ago

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse