Reconsidering Experiments
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Michelson–Morley Experiment
Michelson–Morley experiment Figure 1. Michelson and Morley's interferometric setup, mounted on a stone slab that floats in an annular trough of mercury The Michelson–Morley experiment was an attempt to detect the existence of the luminiferous aether, a supposed medium permeating space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. The experiment was performed between April and July 1887 by Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and published in November of the same year.[1] It compared the speed of light in perpendicular directions in an attempt to detect the relative motion of matter through the stationary luminiferous aether ("aether wind"). The result was negative, in that Michelson and Morley found no significant difference between the speed of light in the direction of movement through the presumed aether, and the speed at right angles. This result is generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the then-prevalent aether theory, and initiated a line of research that eventually led to special relativity, which rules out a stationary aether.[A 1] Of this experiment, Einstein wrote, "If the Michelson–Morley experiment had not brought us into serious embarrassment, no one would have regarded the relativity theory as a (halfway) redemption."[A 2]:219 Michelson–Morley type experiments have been repeated many times with steadily increasing sensitivity. These include experiments from 1902 to 1905, and a series of experiments in the 1920s. More recent optical -
Implementation of the Fizeau Aether Drag Experiment for An
Implementation of the Fizeau Aether Drag Experiment for an Undergraduate Physics Laboratory by Bahrudin Trbalic Submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY May 2020 c Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2020. All rights reserved. ○ Author................................................................ Department of Physics May 8, 2020 Certified by. Sean P. Robinson Lecturer of Physics Thesis Supervisor Certified by. Joseph A. Formaggio Professor of Physics Thesis Supervisor Accepted by . Nergis Mavalvala Associate Department Head, Department of Physics 2 Implementation of the Fizeau Aether Drag Experiment for an Undergraduate Physics Laboratory by Bahrudin Trbalic Submitted to the Department of Physics on May 8, 2020, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics Abstract This work presents the description and implementation of the historically significant Fizeau aether drag experiment in an undergraduate physics laboratory setting. The implementation is optimized to be inexpensive and reproducible in laboratories that aim to educate students in experimental physics. A detailed list of materials, experi- mental setup, and procedures is given. Additionally, a laboratory manual, preparatory materials, and solutions are included. Thesis Supervisor: Sean P. Robinson Title: Lecturer of Physics Thesis Supervisor: Joseph A. Formaggio Title: Professor of Physics 3 4 Acknowledgments I gratefully acknowledge the instrumental help of Prof. Joseph Formaggio and Dr. Sean P. Robinson for the guidance in this thesis work and in my academic life. The Experimental Physics Lab (J-Lab) has been the pinnacle of my MIT experience and I’m thankful for the time spent there. -
Experiments in Topology Pdf Free Download
EXPERIMENTS IN TOPOLOGY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Stephen Barr | 210 pages | 01 Jan 1990 | Dover Publications Inc. | 9780486259338 | English | New York, United States Experiments in Topology PDF Book In short, the book gives a competent introduction to the material and the flavor of a broad swath of the main subfields of topology though Barr does not use the academic disciplinary names preferring an informal treatment. Given these and other early developments, the time is ripe for a meeting across communities to share ideas and look forward. The experiment played a role in the development of ethical guidelines for the use of human participants in psychology experiments. Outlining the Physics: What are the candidate physical drivers of quenching and do the processes vary as a function of galaxy type? Are there ways that these different theoretical mechanisms can be distinguished observationally? In the first part of the study, participants were asked to read about situations in which a conflict occurred and then were told two alternative ways of responding to the situation. In a one-dimensional absolute-judgment task, a person is presented with a number of stimuli that vary on one dimension such as 10 different tones varying only in pitch and responds to each stimulus with a corresponding response learned before. In November , the E. The study and the subsequent article organized by the Washington Post was part of a social experiment looking at perception, taste and the priorities of people. The students were randomly assigned to one of two groups, and each group was shown one of two different interviews with the same instructor who is a native French-speaking Belgian who spoke English with a fairly noticeable accent. -
Popular Arguments for Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity1
1 Popular Arguments for Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity1 Patrick Mackenzie University of Saskatchewan Introduction In this paper I shall argue in Section II that two of the standard arguments that have been put forth in support of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity do not support that theory and are quite compatible with what might be called an updated and perhaps even an enlightened Newtonian view of the Universe. This view will be presented in Section I. I shall call it the neo-Newtonian Theory, though I hasten to add there are a number of things in it that Newton would not accept, though perhaps Galileo might have. Now there may be other arguments and/or pieces of empirical evidence which support the Special Theory of Relativity and cast doubt upon the neo-Newtonian view. Nevertheless, the two that I am going to examine are usually considered important. It might also be claimed that the two arguments that I am going to examine have only heuristic value. Perhaps this is so but they are usually put forward as supporting the Special Theory and refuting the neo-Newtonian Theory. Again I must stress that it is not my aim to cast any doubt on the Special Theory of Relativity nor on Einstein. His Special Theory and his General Theory stand at the zenith of human achievement. My only aim is to cast doubt on the assumption that the two arguments I examine support the Special Theory. Section I Let us begin by outlining the neo-Newtonian Theory. According to it the following tenets are true: 1. -
Einstein and Gravitational Waves
Einstein and gravitational waves By Alfonso León Guillén Gómez Independent scientific researcher Bogotá Colombia March 2021 [email protected] In memory of Blanquita Guillén Gómez September 7, 1929 - March 21, 2021 Abstract The author presents the history of gravitational waves according to Einstein, linking it to his biography and his time in order to understand it in his connection with the history of the Semites, the personality of Einstein in the handling of his conflict-generating circumstances in his relationships competition with his colleagues and in the formulation of the so-called general theory of relativity. We will fall back on the vicissitudes that Einstein experienced in the transition from his scientific work to normal science as a pillar of theoretical physics. We will deal with how Einstein introduced the relativistic ether, conferring an "odor of materiality" to his geometric explanation of gravity, where undoubtedly it does not fit, but that he had to give in to the pressure that was justified by his most renowned colleagues, led by Lorentz. Einstein had to do it to stay in the queue that would lead him to the Nobel. It was thus, as developing the relativistic ether thread, in June 1916, he introduced the gravitational waves of which, in an act of personal liberation and scientific honesty, when he could, in 1938, he demonstrated how they could not exist, within the scenario of his relativity, to immediately also put an end to the relativistic ether. Introduction Between December 1969 and February 1970, the author formulated -
Michou Interferometer
July 21st 2016 Michou interferometer Costel Munteanu Montreal, QC, Canada [email protected] Abstract: The speed of light c defined as a constant of nature is in fact the “twoway speed of light” calculated from the measured time of travel of light from a light source to a reflector and back to a detector situated next to the source. In a “twoway” experiment (like FizeauFoucault apparatus) the constant c is the harmonic mean of “forward” and “backward” speeds [13]. A simple MichelsonMorley interferometer with equal length arms detects a difference between the time of travel of light along its two perpendicular arms in certain frames of reference in motion or in gravitational field and this is interpreted as Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction of length in the direction of motion or along the gradient of gravitational field [5]. While no experiment seemed to allow the precise “oneway” measurement of speed of light, LorentzFitzGerald length contraction interpretation is preferred. In this article I present an interferometer that determines the difference between “forward” and “backward” speed of light in certain frames of reference the anisotropy of speed of light along one direction showing a flow of electromagnetic medium through the frame of reference of the device contradicting the LorentzFitzGerald length contraction hypothesis and bring proof for the first time of (local) preferred frame effects. The device determines the direction of the flow and allows to calculate the velocity of that flow using the measured (or calculated) value of canonical “twoway” speed of light c in that particular frame of reference and the anisotropy measured by the device presented herein. -
Chasing the Light Einsteinʼs Most Famous Thought Experiment 1
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PhilSci Archive November 14, 17, 2010; May 7, 2011 Chasing the Light Einsteinʼs Most Famous Thought Experiment John D. Norton Department of History and Philosophy of Science Center for Philosophy of Science University of Pittsburgh http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton Prepared for Thought Experiments in Philosophy, Science and the Arts, eds., James Robert Brown, Mélanie Frappier and Letitia Meynell, Routledge. At the age of sixteen, Einstein imagined chasing after a beam of light. He later recalled that the thought experiment had played a memorable role in his development of special relativity. Famous as it is, it has proven difficult to understand just how the thought experiment delivers its results. It fails to generate problems for an ether-based electrodynamics. I propose that Einstein’s canonical statement of the thought experiment from his 1946 “Autobiographical Notes,” makes most sense not as an argument against ether-based electrodynamics, but as an argument against “emission” theories of light. 1. Introduction How could we be anything but charmed by the delightful story Einstein tells in his “Autobiographical Notes” of a striking thought he had at the age of sixteen? While recounting the efforts that led to the special theory of relativity, he recalled (Einstein, 1949, pp. 52-53/ pp. 49-50): 1 ...a paradox upon which I had already hit at the age of sixteen: If I pursue a beam of light with the velocity c (velocity of light in a vacuum), I should observe such a beam of light as an electromagnetic field at rest though spatially oscillating. -
The Fizeau Experiment – the Experiment That Led Physics the Wrong Path for One Century
The Fizeau Experiment – the Experiment that Led Physics the Wrong Path for One Century Henok Tadesse, Electrical Engineer, BSc. Ethiopia, Debrezeit, P.O Box 412 Mobile: +251 910 751339; email: [email protected] or [email protected] 01December 2017 Abstract Although Fresnel's ether drag coefficient was ad hoc, its curious confirmation by the Fizeau experiment forced physicists to accept and adopt it as the main guide in the development of theories of the speed of light. Lorentz's 'local-time' , which evolved into the Lorentz transformations, was developed to explain the Fizeau experiment and stellar aberration. Given the logical, theoretical and experimental counter- evidences against the theory of relativity today, it turns out that the Fresnel's drag coefficient may not exist at all. The Fizeau experiment and the phenomenon of stellar aberration have no common physical basis. The result of the Fizeau experiment can be explained in a simple, classical way. It is as if nature conspired to lead physicists astray for more than one century. Alternative theories and interpretations for the ether drift experiments and invariance of Maxwell's equations will be proposed. Physicists rightly assumed the invariance of Maxwell's equations, but their deeply flawed conception of light as ordinary local phenomenon led them unnecessarily to seek an 'explanation' for this invariance, which was the Lorentz transformation. Einstein went down the wrong path when he sought an 'explanation' for the light postulate, when none was needed. The invariance of Maxwell's equations for light is a direct consequence of non-existence of the ether and there is no explanation for it for the same reason that there is no explanation for light being a wave when there is no medium for its propagation. -
The Concept of Field in the History of Electromagnetism
The concept of field in the history of electromagnetism Giovanni Miano Department of Electrical Engineering University of Naples Federico II ET2011-XXVII Riunione Annuale dei Ricercatori di Elettrotecnica Bologna 16-17 giugno 2011 Celebration of the 150th Birthday of Maxwell’s Equations 150 years ago (on March 1861) a young Maxwell (30 years old) published the first part of the paper On physical lines of force in which he wrote down the equations that, by bringing together the physics of electricity and magnetism, laid the foundations for electromagnetism and modern physics. Statue of Maxwell with its dog Toby. Plaque on E-side of the statue. Edinburgh, George Street. Talk Outline ! A brief survey of the birth of the electromagnetism: a long and intriguing story ! A rapid comparison of Weber’s electrodynamics and Maxwell’s theory: “direct action at distance” and “field theory” General References E. T. Wittaker, Theories of Aether and Electricity, Longam, Green and Co., London, 1910. O. Darrigol, Electrodynamics from Ampère to Einste in, Oxford University Press, 2000. O. M. Bucci, The Genesis of Maxwell’s Equations, in “History of Wireless”, T. K. Sarkar et al. Eds., Wiley-Interscience, 2006. Magnetism and Electricity In 1600 Gilbert published the “De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure” (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth). ! The Earth is magnetic ()*+(,-.*, Magnesia ad Sipylum) and this is why a compass points north. ! In a quite large class of bodies (glass, sulphur, …) the friction induces the same effect observed in the amber (!"#$%&'(, Elektron). Gilbert gave to it the name “electricus”. -
Speed Limit: How the Search for an Absolute Frame of Reference in the Universe Led to Einstein’S Equation E =Mc2 — a History of Measurements of the Speed of Light
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 152, part 2, 2019, pp. 216–241. ISSN 0035-9173/19/020216-26 Speed limit: how the search for an absolute frame of reference in the Universe led to Einstein’s equation 2 E =mc — a history of measurements of the speed of light John C. H. Spence ForMemRS Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, USA E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This article describes one of the greatest intellectual adventures in the history of mankind — the history of measurements of the speed of light and their interpretation (Spence 2019). This led to Einstein’s theory of relativity in 1905 and its most important consequence, the idea that matter is a form of energy. His equation E=mc2 describes the energy release in the nuclear reactions which power our sun, the stars, nuclear weapons and nuclear power stations. The article is about the extraordinarily improbable connection between the search for an absolute frame of reference in the Universe (the Aether, against which to measure the speed of light), and Einstein’s most famous equation. Introduction fixed speed with respect to the Aether frame n 1900, the field of physics was in turmoil. of reference. If we consider waves running IDespite the triumphs of Newton’s laws of along a river in which there is a current, it mechanics, despite Maxwell’s great equations was understood that the waves “pick up” the leading to the discovery of radio and Boltz- speed of the current. But Michelson in 1887 mann’s work on the foundations of statistical could find no effect of the passing Aether mechanics, Lord Kelvin’s talk1 at the Royal wind on his very accurate measurements Institution in London on Friday, April 27th of the speed of light, no matter in which 1900, was titled “Nineteenth-century clouds direction he measured it, with headwind or over the dynamical theory of heat and light.” tailwind. -
Topic 2.2: Particle and Wave Models of Light
TOPIC 2.2: PARTICLE AND WAVE MODELS OF LIGHT Students will be able to: S3P-2-06 Outline several historical models used to explain the nature of light. Include: tactile, emission, particle, wave models S3P-2-07 Summarize the early evidence for Newton’s particle model of light. Include: propagation, reflection, refraction, dispersion S3P-2-08 Experiment to show the particle model of light predicts that the velocity of light in a refractive medium is greater than the velocity of light in an incident medium (vr > vi). S3P-2-09 Outline the historical contribution of Galileo, Rœmer, Huygens, Fizeau, Foucault, and Michelson to the development of the measurement of the speed of light. S3P-2-10 Describe phenomena that are discrepant to the particle model of light. Include: diffraction, partial reflection and refraction of light S3P-2-11 Summarize the evidence for the wave model of light. Include: propagation, reflection, refraction, partial reflection/refraction, diffraction, dispersion S3P-2-12 Compare the velocity of light in a refractive medium predicted by the wave model with that predicted in the particle model. S3P-2-13 Outline the geometry of a two-point-source interference pattern, using the wave model. S3P-2-14 Perform Young’s experiment for double-slit diffraction of light to calculate the wavelength of light. ∆xd Include: λ = L S3P-2-15 Describe light as an electromagnetic wave. S3P-2-16 Discuss Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect qualitatively. S3P-2-17 Evaluate the particle and wave models of light and outline the currently accepted view. Include: the principle of complementarity Topic 2: The Nature of Light • SENIOR 3 PHYSICS GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOME SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOME CONNECTION S3P-2-06: Outline several Students will… historical models used to explain Recognize that scientific the nature of light. -
Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors, III
Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange Faculty Publications Physics 2014 Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors, III Tom Greenslade Kenyon College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.kenyon.edu/physics_publications Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation “Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors III”, The Physics Teacher, 52, 360-363 (2014) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Physics at Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors, III Thomas B. Greenslade Jr. Citation: The Physics Teacher 52, 360 (2014); doi: 10.1119/1.4893092 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.4893092 View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/tpt/52/6?ver=pdfcov Published by the American Association of Physics Teachers Articles you may be interested in Crystal (Xal) radios for learning physics Phys. Teach. 53, 317 (2015); 10.1119/1.4917450 Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors — II Phys. Teach. 49, 28 (2011); 10.1119/1.3527751 Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors — I Phys. Teach. 48, 604 (2010); 10.1119/1.3517028 Physics Northwest: An Academic Alliance Phys. Teach. 45, 421 (2007); 10.1119/1.2783150 From Our Files Phys. Teach. 41, 123 (2003); 10.1119/1.1542054 This article is copyrighted as indicated in the article. Reuse of AAPT content is subject to the terms at: http://scitation.aip.org/termsconditions.