Theoretical Model of an Experiment to Test the Isotropy of the Speed of Light

Abstract

The value for the speed of light ‘c’ = 299792458 m/s is widely known and used in theoretical physics, experimental physics, astronomy and astrophysics. However, this is the roundtrip speed from the source to the detector and back. The roundtrip speed of light has been verified thoroughly by several experiments to be a constant. Still, the equality of the one-way speed of light with the roundtrip speed of light, or the isotropy of the one-way speed of light, has never been verified. It is impossible to measure the one-way speed of light unless an absolute (standard) simultaneity is to be found. Yet, testing the isotropy of the one-way speed of light using a mathematical structure that resembles an isosceles triangle is still possible. Since the roundtrip speed of light has already proven to be isotropic, there are values only with which the one-way speed of light can travel in a path, maintaining the roundtrip speed of light to be isotropic. These values serve as limits to the maximum speed that the one-way speed of light can have in its direction of propagation in its path, from which two light pulses from both ends of its path send to the same clock, thereby evading the need for synchronization and allowing the possibility to test the constancy of the one-way speed of light.