Twin paradox (source code)

= Twin paradox
{wiki}

The twin paradox compares <proper time> along the different <world lines> of a travelling observer and a stay-at-home observer who reunite. Reciprocal inertial <time dilation> produces an apparent contradiction only if the traveller's change of <inertial frame> is ignored.

The decisive experiment is local: put two clocks together at departure, separate them, then compare their readings together at reunion. Everyone agrees on those two <spacetime events> and on the final difference. The <twin paradox> asks why two clocks can accumulate different <proper times> between the same <spacetime events>, despite reciprocal <time dilation> during uniform motion. Its answer is the geometry of their complete <world lines>, together with the <relativity of simultaneity> when comparing distant clocks.