2inquisitive said:
Multiple moving clocks can only be synchronized if all their orbits are circular, and all are orbiting a common coordinate point at the same velocity, the center of the Earth in the GPS example.
This is incorrect (according to SR). Multiple moving clocks can be synchronized as long as their positions are known and the speed of light is constant. If clock A receives a signal at
sa=(cta,xa,ya,za) in some inertial frame which was broadcast from clock B at
sb=(ctb,xb,yb,zb) (where ta and tb are measured by the different clocks) in that same inertial frame then the clocks are synchronized in that inertial frame iff |
sa-
sb|=0. Circular orbits are easier to track and easier to keep synchronized and accurate, but not essential. The ECI frame is also easier to use, but not essential.
Here is a simplified but concrete example:
Let's say that we have two satellites in circular orbits in different orbital planes. They might have worldline equations in the ECI like
sa = (ct, sin(wt), cos(wt), 0)
sb = (ct, cos(wt), 0, sin(wt))
The north pole in the ECI is at
p=(0, 0, 0, r) where r is the radius of the earth. So, in a pole-centered frame the equations of motion would be
sa' =
sa-
p
sb' =
sb-
p
The positions are still known and c is still constant in the pole-centered frame so the clocks can still be synchronized.
If we wanted to use a boosted frame then there would be some Lorentz transform
L from the ECI to the boosted frame. Then the equations of motion would be:
sa' =
L.
sa
sb' =
L.
sb
Again, the positions are still known and c is still constant in the boosted frame so the clocks can be synchronized.
-Dale