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Misconceptions in recent papers on special relativity and absolute space theories

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Abstract

Several recent papers which purport to substantiate or negate arguments in favor of certain theories of absolute space have been based on fallacious principles. In this paper we discuss three related instances, indicating where misconceptions have arisen. We establish, contrary to popular belief, that the classical Lorentz ether theory accounts for all the experimental evidence which supports the special theory of relativity. We demonstrate that the ether theory predicts the null results obtained from pulsar timing and Mössbauer experiments. We conclude that a measurement of the one-way velocity of light has physical meaning within the context of the Lorentz theory, and argue that an adequately designed experiment to measure the one-way velocity of light should be attempted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

    D. G. Torr & P. Kolen

Authors
  1. D. G. Torr
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  2. P. Kolen
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Additional information

This work was supported by a grant from the Vice President for Research, Utah State University, and by NASA grant NAGW-119.

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Torr, D.G., Kolen, P. Misconceptions in recent papers on special relativity and absolute space theories. Found Phys 12, 265–284 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00726851

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