The Physics Surrounding the Michelson-Morley Experiment and a New {AE}ther Theory

The physics surrounding the Michelson-Morley experiment and a new æther theory Israel P´erez Department of Applied Physics, CINVESTAV, M´erida, Yucat´an, M´exico Abstract From the customary view the Michelson-Morley experiment is used to expose the failure of the aether theory. The key point in this experiment is the fringe shift of the interference pattern. Regularly, the fringe shift calculations are only presented from the perspective of the inertial frame where the one-way speed of light is anisotropic which gives a partial vision of the problem. In a spirit of revision of these facts we have meticulously analyzed the physics behind them. As a result, an angular effect which is based on Huyghens principle and plays a fundamental role in the reflection of light waves at moving mirrors is incorporated. Moreover, under the assumption of a null result in the experiment, on the one hand, the fringe shift conditions demand actual relativistic effects; on the other, it is confirmed that Maxwell’s electrodynamics and Galilean relativity are incompatible formulations. From these two points at least three inertial theories follow: (1) the special theory of relativity (SR), (2) a new aether theory (NET) based on the Tangherlini transformations and (3) emission theories based on Ritz’ modification of electrodynamics. A brief review of their physical content is presented and the problem of the aether detection as well as the propagation of light, within the context of SR and the NET, are discussed. Despite the overwhelming amount of evidences that apparently favors SR we claim that there are no strong reasons to refuse the aether which conceived as a continuous material medium, still stands up as a physical reality and could be physically associated with dark matter, the cosmic background radiation and the vacuum condensates of particle physics. Keywords: Fringe Shift, Effective Angle, Rarified Gas, New Aether Theory, One-way Speed of Light, Huyghens Principle PACS: 03.30.+p, 42.25.Hz, 01.65.+g 1. Introductory survey During the second half of the XIX century, the theory of electrodynamics had been established by James Clerk Maxwell [1, 2, 3]. At that time, it was a fact that all known waves required a material medium to propagate and it was so natural to think that light Email address: cooguion@yahoo.com, iperez@mda.cinvestav.mx (Israel P´erez) Preprint submitted to Physics Reports October 22, 2018 arXiv:1004.0716v3 [physics.gen-ph] 15 Dec 2010 waves could not be the exception. The medium was known as the luminiferous aether which played the role of a privileged frame not only for the propagation of electromagnetic waves but for heat waves as well [1, 4]. As time went by the aether became the holy grail of physicists so that it was imperative to prove its existence. For this purpose, Maxwell suggested that experiments of order v2/c2 could be performed by measuring the velocity of the earth v relative to the aether. In 1887 A. Michelson and E. Morely took the enterprise of carrying out an interferometric experiment [5, 6] to detect this motion by means of a fringe shift. Using ordinary kinematics they thought that a considerable fringe shift would have revealed the existence of the light medium. However, the experimental outcome was almost null in disagreement with the calculations. Consequently, the experiment has been considered (among other similar experiments) as a clear proof of the non-existence of the aether and the isotropy of the speed of light for all inertial observers. Nevertheless, under a new vision, we shall explain that a null result must be assumed, on one hand, only for purposes of theorization and, on the other, to expose the inconsistency between ordinary electrodynamics and Galilean relativity (GR), from which does not follow that there is no light medium. We consider a new aether theory and make clear that only the two-way speed of light is constant for all inertial observers. Also, it shall be shown that when the experiment is realized in non-vacuum conditions the speed of the earth might be detected. We further present a new insight for a more intelligible theory based on the tenet that space is a material continuum. 2. The rules of the game Before we start with our investigations, let us situate ourselves in the atmosphere of physics before 1905. First of all, we must recognize that most philosophers, mathematicians and physicists of the XIX century believed that space existed as the container of objects. They thought that if all objects were removed, space would continue to exist. This vision, as it is well known, epitomizes a Kantian or Newtonian notion of space. From this view, space and Euclidean geometry go side by side. Scientists also clearly distinguished space from matter. But one issue that they rarely discussed was the constitution of space; for most thinkers space itself existed as “a priori intuition”, as “a relational thing”, as “a substance” 1. In this work, however, we shall adopt

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