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Hi David,I think it would be possible to carry out the experiment. Would you be (or would you know somebody ) interested in helping to set it up?
Let's try again.A photon has no idea whether it is travelling towards or away from you. Until it reaches you, it doesn't even know if you exist. Therefore its speed in vacuo is independent of direction.Now suppose that the vacuum is in fact filled with aether, which is in some way essential for the propagation of light, and we are travelling through it in some direction. The measured two-way speed will depend on whether we are measuring "into wind" or "across wind", and the Michelson-Morley experiment (and its descendants) have clearly and consistently shown no difference.
The point is that if the one-way speed was c + x and c - x in the other direction, (a) the measured two way speed would always be less than c
(b) the measured two-way speed would vary with the initial direction of propagation
(c) Maxwell's equations would not give the measured value of c(d) indeed Maxwell's equations would not describe a selfpropagating electrromagnetic wave at all
(e) you would have to invent some means by which a photon would know whether it was travelling towards or away from you (and explain why "you" were of cosmic significance)
(f) the energy of the photons emitted from pair production and annihiliation would depend on the direction of travel of the initiating photon that produced the pair
and so forth. In a few words, if c depended on the direction of propagation, a whole lot of what we know from experiment would not be true. If c does not depend on the direction of propagation, the one-way speed must be the same as the two-way speed.
But if you want a single defining experiment, measure radiation pressure.
If light signals moving at c, in opposite directions around the earth at the equator, return to their starting positions at different times, then with a rotation speed of o mph, 1 circuit requires .1333 sec. With a rotation speed of 1000 mph, the westbound signal arrives 200 ns earlier, the eastbound signal arrives 200 ns later. Knowing the time and distance should allow comparison of 1-way speeds. This experiment involves an absolute frame whereas in SR there is none.My statement in #4 was within the SR environment.
Fortunately visible photons can be stopped by very thin sheets of metal, so we can replace the solid cylinder by an axle, maybe 1 km long, with thin discs at each end. perforated by circumferential holes. Put the whole thing inside an evacuated tube and use a laser source. You now have a feasible, updated and unidirectional version of Fizeau's classic 1848 experiment.
david cooper #45https://app.box.com/s/zlhkh5g3fv56n2t0rd1obd576prd95kggraphics describe much better than words.The graphic is a speed plot, thus c is constant at the same angle, and relative speed results in different distances traveled.Calculations used 186000 mps.Rotation speed is exggerated to show the tiny differences.Why would someone be so hostile toward a theory?
How are you coordinating the two discs at the end of your axle to keep them aligned?
Quote from: David Cooper on 21/05/2017 00:14:13How are you coordinating the two discs at the end of your axle to keep them aligned?Drive the axle from its midpoint, so the discs have equal phase lag from the driving point, and wait as long as you like for any second-order phase lag to dissipate.
Set up a "precision DME" with three ground stations at known distances d (use a surveyor's chain) in the x, y and z directions, and measure their apparent distances d' with the DME
movement through the fabric of space affects the coordination of the discs such that the lead one lags behind where you expect it to be and the rear one is ahead of your expectations in terms of its rotation, thus adjusting the apparatus to maintain the ability of the laser light to pass through both holes.
Perhaps you would like to set out your definition of velocity? Or distance? Or time? Anyway, if the earth's rotation or movement through space makes any difference to the propagation speed of light, you will find that dx', dy' and dz' vary with time and in relation to each other.
Now suppose the discrepancy between out and return speeds is 2x in one direction, and 2y and 2z in the perpendicular directions. Set up a "precision DME" with three ground stations at known distances d (use a surveyor's chain) in the x, y and z directions, and measure their apparent distances d' with the DME
Quotemovement through the fabric of space affects the coordination of the discs such that the lead one lags behind where you expect it to be and the rear one is ahead of your expectations in terms of its rotation, thus adjusting the apparatus to maintain the ability of the laser light to pass through both holes. Same argument applies: you should measure different rotation speeds for maximum illumination depending on the orientation of the axle relative to the direction of travel . No need for a rocket - with the dimensions I have suggested, the rotation of the earth will suffice.