There is no absolute time dilation or physical length contraction
based on the following assumptions:
1. Absolute time exists. A clock second in the rest frame of the clock
represents a specific amount of absolute time. The purpose of the SR
time dilation equation is to predict the value on the observed clock
for a second of time (a specific amount of absolute time) on the
observer's clock.
For example: according to SR a clock second on the observer's clock is
worth 1/gamma second on the observed clock. In other words 1/gamma
second on the observed clock contains the same amount of absoute time
as 1 second on the observer's clock.....what this mean is that the
passage of 1/gamma second on the observed clock is corresponded to the
passage of one second on the observer's clock. The observed clock run
slow compared to the observer's clock....but in terms of absolute time
the observer's clock and the observed clock are running at the same
rate.
2. There is no physical length contraction. A meter stick remains the
same physical length in all frames of reference. However the light-
path length of a meter stick moving wrt the observer is predicted to
be shorter than the light-path length of the observer's meter stick by
a factor of 1/gamma. The light-path length of the observer's meter
stick is assumed to be the physical length of his meter stick.
The above assumptions on time and length enabled me to formulate a new
theory of relativity called IRT. IRT math includes SRT math as a
subset. However unlike the SRT math, the IRT math have an unlimited
domian of applicability, including in a gravity environment. That
means that IRT can be used to replace SR/GR in all applications. A
paper on IRT is available in the following link:
http://www.modelmechanics.org/2011irt.dtg.pdf
Ken Seto