Aether Definition and 54 Threads

My name is Dilip (James) I am fascinated by physics and have written three books on the subject, which indicates my level of interest.. My latest book “The Electromagnetic Universe: A New Physics” is available on Amazon and describes in detail: a new theory on the propagation of light, a new...

I would like to conduct a thought experiment. If some form of medium exists, what would it be made of? What form would any constituent parts take? Would those parts exhibit any properties? How would they function as a medium? What relation would the medium have with atoms and other particle...

I have an experimental bent. I am currently trying to expose the tachyon field (replace with quantum field, zero point or whatever term is currently your favorite). Also, currently trying to use a longitudinal wavelength in place of a conductor to reach the ionosphere and tap its electrical...

I'm a newbie in all this, so I'm sure I'm wrong. :) There are several schools of thought about quantum mechanics: Copenhagen, many worlds, pilot wave,... etc.. They all have, as far as I know, in common the Schrodinger equation. And here I could be wrong in my assumption: It doesn't matter if...

What was the need for Lorentz transformation in pre-relativity period? Why was it necessary for the velocity of light to be invariant between different inertial frames and hence what was the need for Lorentz transformation when it was believed that velocity of light was constant with respect to...

Hey guys, What is the difference between spacetime, quantum field and aether? For a beginner, maybe these terms seems similar because these terms indicating "something" that which has no shape. But what are the differences exactly between these?

The Michelson-Morley Experiment (as depicted in the scishow YouTube video "The Greatest Failed Experiment Ever") which was used to test for the effects of 'Aether Wind' appears to be almost, if not completely, the same setup as the one used in a gravitational-wave observatory. Why is the success...

According to Maxwell's equation, the speed of light, ##C_0 = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\epsilon_0\mu_0}}##, is a constant regarding to some form of medium, called luminiferous aether. Shortly after the death of Maxwell, Michelson-Morley Experiment shows that the speed of light is constant regarding to the...

There is a series of very interesting science fiction films lately related to physics and from Marvel Universe. To those dizzy already or want to relax from Many Worlds or unsolved problems in physics, etc. Try to watch the latest Avengers: Age of Ultron. I have to watch it the second time to...

I would be interested in the equations of a gyrostatic ether as brought up by McCullach and Lord Kelvin, best in a modern notation. Before people jump on me: I an not interested in questioning modern theories like SR but rather in the extensions of continuum mechanics these theories go in hand with.

What are your opinions about these two experiments described at: http://adsind.wordpress.com? Can they be used to reject some of the aether theories?

Is there an "aether" to determine if an object rotates? Hi, In modern physics aether theories are obsolete, all inertial systems are equivalent. For rotational motion, the situation is different: In a rotating system, it is possible to measure the rotation without any outside reference (e.g...

The Case Against The Word "Aether" Many BSM theories involve a space-time that has properties rather than being "nothing" or omnipresent field or substance, but the word "aether" as a description for that "non-nothing" vacuum between Standard Model particles is long past its due date as a...

Did physicists ever try to put empirical constraints on the properties of the aether? I recall reading a popularization by Isaac Asimov in which he remarked that the aether would have had to have a very low density, and then to explain the high speed of light it would have had to have a...

No, I'm not talking about the original luminiferous aether disproven by the Michelson-Morley experiments. I'm asking what the consensus is on whether 'empty' space is actually made of something: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_theories To what extent is there a consensus on what space...

I have been reading up on the luminiferous aether as a background to the Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887. I am currently stuck on understanding a point in Stoke's model of the aether ( The "Silly-putty model") Everywhere I have searched online mentions how he proposed that the aether...

Light as a wave: Interference and diffraction of light indicates light is a wave. Other waves like sound or water waves require a medium to propagate. The speed of the wave is defined relative to this medium. So what is the light’s medium? And can we measure our speed relative to the medium by...

i recall einstein idicating that there was no longer a reason to posit an aether after special relativity was published, but later wrote a short paper indicating that there was, in effect, an aether after all. ref -...

I have just watched a video by Professor Brian Cox. In it he describes the proposed Higgs field. If it exists, it is thought that this field permeates all space among other attributes. When I heard this, it struck a familiar chord. It sounded almost identicle to the description of the aether...

Who said approximately: The viscosity of the aether / vacuum state / zero-point-field / or whatever is ridiculous / ridiculously large / great / high ? This person had computed it using i.a. the c0 value of light speed. What else was in the formula ? / Grateful for info...

What do "pervading" and "aether" mean? What do "pervading" and "aether" mean in: "Isaac Newton considered light to be a beam of particles that set the pervading aether vibrating." ? I'm not taking a Quantum Mechanics course but I might in the future but either way, I'm interested in learning...

Homework Statement Imagine yourself seated at the center of a spherical shell of radius 3 X 10^8 meters the inner surface being diffusely reflecting. A source at the center of the sphere emits a sharp pulse of light, which travels outward through the darkness with uniform intensity in all...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment With the discovery that some sub-atomic particles travel faster than light, does that change the way that this experiments interpretation might be regarded? Perhaps Special Relativity is for electromagnetic measurements and...

What's the main difference between the concepts of aether and that of the EM field? They both seem, to my unpracticed eye, to be everywhere and the medium that allows light.

Homework Statement Well. the statement is explain the Aether Experiment.Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution What i gather is that MM threw a light source into a thing to split the light up and had to mirrors to reflect the light into the telescope. One going against and one going...

On this webpage http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath241/kmath241.htm" are these words of Maxwell: "The only practicable method of determining directly the relative velocity of the aether with respect to the solar system is to compare the values of the velocity of light deduced from the...

I first learned of this paper in a FAQ by Benjamin Crowell which gave a link to Einstein's handwritten manuscript, but no English translation, so I had a go at making http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/aether.htm . Some of the physics is above my head, especially the stuff on radiation and...

OK, i imagine that a few ensteiniens of you will roll eyes when they hear...aether! I was thinking about Michelson-Morley experiment and i have some questions. If light is thought to be an perturbation of aether (just like waves on water or sound waves) that their speed should be independent of...

Homework Statement Im writing an essay titled Maxwell and his equations. I want to talk about his electrodynamic theory and how his equations showed that light is an electromagnetic wave. I then want to include his involvement in aether theory since he had devised a theory to explain...

Can someone explain to me what Aether is? And what's the difference between the Higgs field and the aether? thanks

While it is widely accepted that there is no existence of the aether, what does this say about Dirac's argument which contradicts mainstream belief? This comes about 50 years after it was suggested that there was no aether. Is this a special case? I was told that aether theory is not excluded...

can sm1 tell me why in the michelson morley experiment aeteher is assumed to have a unidorectional constant velocity ?? thankyou so much

Confused about "Aether" What is Aether supposed to be now days (and in Einstein's day)? Isn't Aether just space and time (and maybe their fluctuations)? I thought it was simply a "media", which bosons and fermions travel on.

What rules out Aether being attached to earth? Why should the Earth be singled out as stationary wrt the aether? If the universe is completeley arbitrary, why are we here? If I were setting up the system, I would plant the aether where it makes the most sense and is most useful.

How is the electromagnetic field different from aether? if there is an em field why is it not considered to be at absolute rest

Just out of curiousity, what's wrong with the theory that the aether is attached to the earth? It's no more fantastic than the hypothesis that the Earth is the only inhabited piece of matter in the known universe. And if it makes it easier to "think" and explains the Michelson Morley and...

I was recently debating some work done by my "colleague" regarding aether particles. I'm looking for some outside analysis. If anyone would care to look into this matter, the following link will bring you to his work: Link deleted Integral

Hi all, In my last thread on phonons and aether, I was prompted to look up some stuff of modern aether. I will leave it up to you to interpret as i know little of this, but basically, there are a few guys out there there that firstly think Einstein and others are wrong with relativity etc...

I have had an idea now for a while and am just wondering if the direction along the path of thinking that I am using is followed in any well established theorys. The basis for my thoughts is that mass/particles are ultimately vibrations of that which the vaccume of space consists of...

I have been reading a few old texts from around the turn of the 20th C. and have noticed that in at least two there is mention of the aether in connection with electromagnetic phenomena. In these texts a statement to the effect of "the space around the coil is altered in some way by the passage...

I'm working problems on vibrations in crystal lattice for solid state, and a thought occurred to me. Early 20th century and late 19th century scientists supposed an aether for light to pass through. It seemed reasonable at the time - waves travel in a media. However, EM waves are transverse...

How many dimensionless points have to expand and combine, before we would be able to detect them? When t=0, are we not naming time as a dimensionless point? If we can write time as "one" dimensionless point then would it stand to reason we can name time as all dimensionless points? In my...

Hi, I don't understand: On the one hand with special relativity Einstein got rid of the aether - the medium which electromagnetic waves use to travel and which can be used as an absolute reference system. On the other hand in quantum field theory quantum fields are invented which fill all space...

General Relativity IS an aether theory. The meaning of this claim is simple, the only way to resolve the problem of forces felt by rotation is to referance space-time as an aether that things move through. This is not the same aether as was thought of in the early 1900's whoose sole purpose was...

Special relativity (SR) SR and Lorentz ether theory (LET) are empirically equivalent systems for interpreting local Lorentz symmetry. These two theories are equally valid, but it is not possible (so far) to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the postulates of either theory over the other by...

Heya, I am writing a paper at the moment on aether theories from an historical perspective. I am mostly interested in the mathematical basis of aether theories starting from when Maxwell unified electric and magnetic fields. What I would like to know is if anybody has any idea where to...

I've never understood how the aether was dispensed with. It is said that Maxwell's equations don't require it. If that is the case, then where do the x, y and z axes come from if not from an aether.

From John Baez’ page on the experimental basis of Special Relativity, he says that: and My question pertains to the remarks in blue: aether theories that are experimentally indistinguishable from SR. Where are these theories published? One member (Yogi) makes reference to the so-called...

in the sticky above about wrong claims, chris hillman attempts to debunk the idea that "GR is an aether theory". however, his argument seems a bit disingenuous when compared to einstein's own writing on the topic. einstein stated, in "Ether and the Theory of Relativity", an address...

Does anyone really know what an electron is made of? Theoreticly it can't be broken down so there is nothing to make it out of. Logic says it must have an origin and if it does then there must be something to create it from. Even if there were you would have to reach a point of infintesimal...