Abstract
The postulate of constant speed of light for all reference frames is the foundation of relativity theories. The resultant time dilation and length contraction are generally accepted but still perplexing for most people. By re-examining the historical evidence, this paper confirms Einstein’s postulate and reveals the mechanism for the constant speed of light: the interaction between photons and matter can impart the speed of an inertial frame to the photons and thus result in the same speed of light for different inertial reference frames. This mechanism can consistently explain all major experiments on the constant speed of light.
Highlights
There are many historical experiments that relate to the postulate of the constant speed of light in a vacuum and the speculation of the existence of “aether” for light transmission
By re-examining the Fizeau water tube experiment, this paper discovers the rule for photon matter scattering, which shows that scattering imparts to photons an amount of speed that is equal to the speed of the matter times the inverse of the refractive index of the medium
The re-examination of the MM, KT and Hoek experiments further shows that photon matter scattering can impart the full speed of the matter to the light but the new speed of light is subject to the discount of the refractive index of the medium
Summary
There are many historical experiments that relate to the postulate of the constant speed of light in a vacuum and the speculation of the existence of “aether” for light transmission. Based on the null results from the MM experiment, Einstein concluded that aether does not exist He postulated that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant for all reference frames and is independent of the speed of the light source. Half of Einstein’s postulate that light speed is independent of the speed of the light source has been proved by many experiments and observations, the other half of the postulate that the speed is the same for all reference frames has not yet been fully confirmed, and it is a perplexing postulate unless one accepts concepts such as length contraction and time dilation This paper examines this part of the postulate by investigating historical experiments that have been carried out to examine the constant speed of light. Much patience is required when reading this paper because some of the logical reasoning related to the experiments is very subtle
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