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The International Atomic Time and the Velocity of Light

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Foundations of Physics Letters

Abstract

Atomic clocks distributed around the world communicate with one another by means of radio signals. The synchronization signals sent by a transmitting station always reach the receiving station ‘on time,’ at any hour of the day and in any season, despite the motion of the Earth. For some authors this means that these signals propagate isotropically (with one way velocity c), even with respect to the Earth's surface. In fact this may not be so; we show that the proper working of the network says nothing about the one-way velocity, as it is consistent with another theory, empirically (almost) equivalent to special relativity, in which the one-way speed of light has a directional dependence in moving frames.

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Manaresi, R., Selleri, F. The International Atomic Time and the Velocity of Light. Found Phys Lett 17, 65–79 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FOPL.0000013004.75967.46

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FOPL.0000013004.75967.46

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