Michelson-Gale-Pearson Refutation of Stokes-Planck - Help

[one_raven]

I'm hoping for some help in understanding how the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment in 1925 is held as a refutation of the Stokes-Planck theory of gravitational aether drag.

If I understand the Stokes-Planck theory correctly, complete dragging of the aether near a sufficiently massive body (diminishing at distance, in accordance to the inverse square law as it applies to gravitational force) would be essentially indistinguishable from a complete dragging model. Wouldn't it also be indistinguishable from a non-aetheric model?
Didn't Michelson-Gale-Pearson support that?

What am I missing?

Thanks.

 

[UltrafastPED]

This should be posted in the Special & General Relativity forum.

 

[one_raven]

I wasn't sure, because the Stokes-Planck theory was a classical interpretation that pre-dated Relativity - and, if it were accepted, would have stood in opposition to Relativity.

Can I move it, or does a moderator have to?

 

[one_raven]

Can a moderator move this to the Relativity sub-forum, please?
Maybe it will get a response there.

 

[pmacias]

I can provide some clarification on the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment and its relationship to the Stokes-Planck theory of gravitational aether drag.

Firstly, the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment was designed to test the concept of aether drag, which was proposed by George Stokes and Max Planck. This theory suggested that the aether, a hypothetical medium through which electromagnetic waves were thought to propagate, would be dragged by the movement of massive bodies such as the Earth. This would affect the speed of light and lead to a measurable difference in the speed of light in different directions.

However, the results of the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment did not support this theory. They found that the speed of light was the same in all directions, indicating that the aether was not being dragged by the Earth's movement. This was a significant result that challenged the concept of aether drag and had implications for other theories, including the Stokes-Planck theory.

In relation to your question about the indistinguishability of a complete dragging model and a non-aetheric model, it is important to note that the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment did not directly address this issue. However, the results of the experiment did provide evidence against the existence of aether, which is a key component of the complete dragging model. Therefore, the experiment indirectly refuted this model.

In summary, the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment did not directly test the Stokes-Planck theory, but its results did challenge the concept of aether drag, which is a key component of this theory. This is why the experiment is often cited as a refutation of the Stokes-Planck theory. I hope this helps to clarify any confusion.