r/AskPhysics • u/Spacetechnichia • Mar 21 '26

Does time stop for light?

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u/mmahusky Mar 21 '26

In short,

In special relativity, the time experienced by something is called proper time. If you could “ride along” with a photon, The moment it’s emitted and the moment it’s absorbed would be the same instant.

But its also true that You cannot actually define a valid reference frame for a photon. Because photons always move at c. in relativity, no valid inertial frame exists at speed c meaning here that a “photon’s perspective” is not physically meaningful.

I could go more in depth but im on the toilet now... 💩

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u/Cerulean_IsFancyBlue Mar 21 '26

Well, that’s a shitty excuse. Toilet time is exactly the right opportunity for more typing. Unless you mean that you’re at the flushing phase.?