Measuring Velocity Using Moving Clocks—The Surprising Test of Tangherlini’s Theory

This study advances prior work by Matsas et al. (2024) , which demonstrated that time alone can serve as the base unit for all physical quantities, eliminating reliance on traditional LMT dimensions. The fundamental component of this work is distance measurement using clocks from three inertial systems. In this study, using linear algebra and Lorentz transformations, we confirm the published distance expression originally derived from Minkowski diagrams. Additionally, two unpublished velocity equations for moving clocks were derived using three duration inputs without a distance parameter. The investigation was expanded to Tangherlini 4D spacetime (1958). Using a three-clock scenario with two clocks in a round-trip pattern—and assuming distance is measured by conventional means—the three absolute velocities of each clock were calculated from three derived nonlinear equations. This setup circumvents the usual cancellation of absolute velocity that occurs in traditional thought experiments. This finding should revive the long-standing debate initiated in the 19th century and later reignited by Poincaré and Einstein. The findings confirmed that Tangherlini’s intuition and predictions about possible absolute velocity measurements were right and his theory is complementary to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (STR) rather than antagonistic. This theoretical breakthrough may pave the way to the practical measurement of absolute velocity without waiting for infinite fast signals that likely may not exist. Yet, instantaneous ‘Now’ appears as a background of co-existence that is the background reality of all temporal relations while finite speed signals are only available.