Note on Dewan-Beran-Bell's spaceship problem

Abstract

The thread-between-spaceships problem is analysed both in its 'mild' variant (after some time the ships' acceleration ceases and they coast at the same constant speed, with respect to the lab frame), and in a special case of its 'tough' variant (the ships' acceleration never ceases). It is pointed out that in the special case of the tough variant the thread connecting spaceships may never break, regardless of how close the ships' speed approaches c. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.