Is the speed of light truly constant in all directions?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the constancy of the speed of light in all directions, particularly in the context of Earth's motion through space. Participants explore whether light appears to travel at different speeds depending on the direction due to the movement of the Earth and the implications of such measurements for understanding spacetime.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the speed of light is absolute but may be perceived differently due to the relative motion of the Earth through space.
  • Others reference the Michelson-Morley experiment, which indicated that light speed does not depend on the reference frame, leading to the development of relativity.
  • A participant questions whether modern atomic clocks could measure any differences in light speed due to Earth's motion more accurately than past experiments.
  • There is a proposal that a device could measure the time it takes for light to travel in different directions, but others argue that such a device would not be able to determine differences in speed due to the nature of light's constancy.
  • One participant describes a thought experiment involving a moving train to illustrate how light speed remains constant, suggesting that time differences could be used to calculate the train's speed.
  • Another participant challenges the notion of using light speed to measure an apparatus's speed through spacetime, arguing that it does not make sense to use a frame-invariant speed for such measurements.
  • Discussions also touch on the synchronization of clocks and how different observers might perceive time differently due to relativistic effects.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether light speed can be measured differently in various directions and whether existing experimental setups can adequately test these ideas. There is no consensus on the implications of these discussions for the constancy of light speed or the validity of special relativity.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in measuring light speed due to the nature of the devices proposed and the assumptions underlying the experiments discussed. The discussion reflects ongoing uncertainties in understanding the implications of relativity and the behavior of light in different reference frames.

  • #31
seb7 said:
I'm trying to measure the aether frame. I can see flaws in every experiment I've read that supposed to disprove the existence of an aether frame.

What exactly is your definition of "the aether frame"? People use this term to refer to different things.
 
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  • #32
Hi PeterDonis, aether frame seems to be the old saying for spacetime.

DaleSpam, "doesn't fit with your agenda.". Yes, much of my thoughts about space/time is that without material or energy there is still time and distance, part of a background aether as such.

After reading in detail about the experiments performed which sprung the ideas and the formulas for special relativity, it only strengthened my ideas, as there's a big glaring gap between results of various experiments and conclusions that were made. What bothers me further is how quickly a whole range of formulas were quickly stacked up on top of one assertion that Einstein made.

Thanks for the link, hopefully might find something in there that will fill the gap.
 
  • #33
seb7 said:
Hi PeterDonis, aether frame seems to be the old saying for spacetime.

Not really. At least, not as you appear to be using the term, because spacetime is an integral part of SR but you appear to be questioning the validity of SR. So either you must mean something different by "aether frame" than just "spacetime", or you don't really understand your own position. In fact, if I go back and substitute "spacetime" for "aether frame" in your posts, many of them don't even make sense; for example, you talk about experiments that are claimed to "disprove the existence of an aether frame", but certainly nobody is claiming that those experiments disprove the existence of spacetime.
 
  • #34
seb7 said:
Yes, much of my thoughts about space/time is that without material or energy there is still time and distance, part of a background aether as such.
Time and distance, yes, but not velocity. The aether implies not only time and distance, but also a "background" velocity, which is precisely what has not ever been detected.

seb7 said:
there's a big glaring gap between results of various experiments and conclusions that were made
Nonsense. If you send me a PM with some professional reference describing this supposed gap then we can re-open the thread and discuss it. Until then you are just speculating.
 

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