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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: What empirical evidence led to Einstein's choice of postulates for SR?
« on: Yesterday at 23:41:06 »
Let's mix our metaphors a bit. Imagine a wave whose motion is governed by Maxwell's propagation equation. In one unit of time τ its peak propagates from a to a + cτ, then the process begins again and wavelength λ = cτ.
Now imagine I am moving towards the source. I encounter a peak, followed by another peak. I can measure λ' and τ' between the peaks but I have no other information about the source and λ'/τ' = c because the propagation mechanism (dependent only on ξ and μ) inside my measuring equipment is exactly the same as that outside.
Now imagine I am moving towards the source. I encounter a peak, followed by another peak. I can measure λ' and τ' between the peaks but I have no other information about the source and λ'/τ' = c because the propagation mechanism (dependent only on ξ and μ) inside my measuring equipment is exactly the same as that outside.
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