A Four-Mode Interpretation of Special Relativity: Distinguishing Observed Time from Accumulated Internal Time

抄録

Special Relativity has been remarkably successful in describing experimentally verified relativistic phenomena. The present work does not dispute these observations. Instead, it proposes a conceptual reorganization of physical time within the Four-Mode Theory. Rather than treating physical time as a single quantity, the proposed framework distinguishes the Time Mode, Internal Time, Accumulated Internal Time, Observed Time, Accumulated Observed Time, and the Time-rate Factor. Observed Time describes temporal relations established between different physical systems, whereas Accumulated Internal Time describes temporal evolution accumulated within an individual physical system. Consequently, reciprocal time dilation observed during ideal symmetric inertial motion does not by itself imply asymmetric accumulation of Internal Time.

Within this framework, differences in Accumulated Internal Time are interpreted as arising only when redistribution of the Time Mode is assumed to occur. The interpretation is applied to symmetric inertial motion, the twin paradox, GPS satellite clocks, continuously curved trajectories, and relativistic muon lifetimes. The Four-Mode Theory therefore preserves the observational framework of Special Relativity while proposing an additional physical interpretation of temporal evolution within physical systems.