zotero-db/storage/KDJKNNF8/.zotero-ft-cache

Einstein
Two
BY
Petr Beckmann
Proferror Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, University of Colorado Fellow,
Inrtitule of Electrical and Electronic Engineers*

Preface

When I run,I feel a wind; but not one that will make a windmill
turn. As long as an observeris at rest on the ground, it does not matter
whether the velocity of the wind is referred to the observer or the windmill. A physicist whofakly assumes that the effect-producing velocity (that makes the windmill turn) is that with respect to the observer, but correctly appliesthe relativity principle, will expectthe windmill to turn when he is running. The experimental evidencewill contradict his expctation, and he can then either abandon his false premise, or he can so distort space and time that the observer's motion produces two exactly equal and opposite forces on the windmill, keeping the mill motionless as observed. The Einstein theory, in effect, takes the latter road, but I believe the laws of physics, includmg the relativity principle, must hold regardless of any observer, who should do nothing but observe.
An electric or magnetic field will accelerate an electron. Its -etic fieldwill thereforeincrease,which causes the induced electric field to decelerate it. That will decrease the magnetic field and the i n d u d electric field will accelerate the electron again. The resulting oscillations are derived from the Maxwell equations in Part Two of this book. They qplain the quantization of electron orbits, the de Broghe relation and the Schrodinger equation simply and without further assumptions.
The natural frequency of these oscillations depends on the velocity of the electron; but the velocity with respect to what? The velocity that will make the Lorentz force and the Maxwell equations valid, claims the Einstein theory, is the velocity with respect to the observer. But if so, does the electron oscillate for me because I am
moving past it, but not for you because it lies still in your rest
frame? To answer yes is to kill the relativity principle. As I will attempt to show, the velocity that makes the Maxwell-
Lorentz electrodynamics valid is that of charges with respect to the local fields they traverse. That squares with the experimental evidence in electromagneticsand optics, and it leads to the derivation of two phenomena for which no explanation other thana d hoe

postulates has hitherto been available: the quantization of electron orbits and in the realm of gravity, the Titius series.
Why, then, has the Einstein theory celebrated an uninterrupted series of brilliant successes for more than 80 years?
Because in all past experiments the observing instruments have always been nailed to the I d field, so that they could not reveal whether the observed effect was associated with an observerreferred or a field-referred velocity. The technology for testing that difference may not be available for some time.
But if it is field-referred velocities that are the gect-producing ones, then the Maxwell equations automatically become invariant to the Galileian transformation; the undisputed fact that the Lorentz force and the Maxwell equations with observer-referred velocities are Lorentz-invariant is one that becomes both trivial and irrelevant.
I am not so naive as to think that the first attempt to move the entire Einstein theory en bloc onto classical ground will turn out to be perfectly correct. What I do hope is that the approach will p r e vide a stimulus for the return of physics from description to comprehension. Attempting to redefine the ultimate foundation pillars of physics, space and time, from what they have been understood
1 to mean through the ages is to move the entire building from its
well-established and clearly visible foundations into a domain of
unreal acrobatics where the observer becomes more important than
the nature he is supposed to observe, where space and time become toys in abstract mathematical formalisms, and where, to quote a
recent paper on modem approaches to gravitation theory, "the
distinctions between future and past become blurred." This book is for those who do not wish to blur such distinctions
("He will commit posthumous suicide yesterday"?). It is for those
who seek to understand rather than merely to describe, for those who will accept the Einstein theory as a bri&ant, powerful and p r e
ductive equivalence, but not as a physical reality.
It is for those who are prepared to sacrifice a lifetime's investment
in learning; and perhaps more importantly, for the young students who have not yet made such an investment.

For more information on the author see American Men of Science, Who's Who in Americu or Who's Who in the World.
I

Contents

INTRODUCTION: TRUTH AND EQUIVALEPJCE

2. EINSTEIN PLUS ONE

1. EINSTEIN MINUS ZERO 1.l. The Static Inverse Square Law 1.2. The '4z'locit.j of Light: 'Sv'ith Respect to '?':hat:! 1.3. The "Purely Optical'' Evidence
1.3.1 . Aberration
1.3.2. Fresnel's Coefficient of Drag 1.3.3. Fizeau's and Airy's Experiments 1.3.4. Double Stars and Other Objections
to the Ballistic Theory 1.3.5. The Michelson-Morley Experiment 1.3.6. Moving Mirrors 1.3.7. The Michelson-Gale Experiment 1.4. Magnetic Force and the Gravitational Field 1.5. Electromagnetic Momentum 1.6. The Field of a Moving Charge 1.7. Mass and Energy 1.8. The Modified Newton-Colulomb Law 1-9. The Electromagnetic Evidence
1.8.1. Mass, Momentum and Energy
1.9.2. Champion's Experiment 1.9.3. Time Dilation: Ives-Stillwell, Mesons,
and Clocks Around the Globe 1.lo. Galileian Electrodynamics
1.10.1. The Maxwell Equations and the Lorentz Force 1.10.2. Electromagnetics of Moving Media 1.10.3. Invariance of Relative Velocities 1.10.4. Invariance of the Maxwell Equations 1.1 1. Mercury, Mesons, Mossbauer, and Miscellaneous

2.1 . Strictly Central Motion
2.2. Self-Induced Oscillations of an Accelerated Charge 2.3. The Faraday Fieid and Electron Oscillations 2.4. Slightly Off-Central Motion 2.5. The Quantization of Electron Orbits 2.6. Electromagnetic Mass 2.7. Electromagnetic Mass and Acceleration 2.8. Energy Balance 2.9. Planck's Constant 2.10. The Root Problem 2.1 1. The Schrodinger Equation 2.12. Radiation and Some Other Matters
3. EINSTEIN PLUS TWO 3.1. Gravitation 3.2. Mercury 3.3. The Titius Series 3.4. The Stable Planetary Orbits 3.5. Siblings, Twins, or One Identical Child? 3.6. Inertia
EPILOGUE
Appendix: The Devil's Advocates [Reply to four reviewers] References Index

LC Cat Card No: 85-872516; ISBN 0-911762-39-6

Golem Press (Box 1342, Boulder, CO 80306, 1987)

Set in real type (not laserprinter)

2 12 pages

6 by 9 hardbound, cloth, sewn

$36

Prepaid orders only. All sales final.

THE GOLEM PRESS
Box 1342
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Send .... . copies of Einstein Plus Two by P. Beckmann at $36 each. Check or
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Send to:

r EINSTEIN I,
I PLUS TWO I

By PETRBECKMANNPr,ofessor of
Electrical Eng., Univ. of Colorado, Fellow of the I.E.E.E.

In 1912, Yale phyics professor Leigh Page proved that the Maxwell equations could be derived by applying the Lorentz transformation to Coulomb's Law. This was regarded as a triumph of the Einstein theory, but it also showed that the suc-
cesses of the Einstein theory may be due to the Lorentz transformation compensating for an inverse-square law that becomes inaccurate at high velocities.
This book is based on the assumption that the velocity that will make the Lorentz force and the Maxwell equations valid is not that with respect to an observer, but
that of charges (and masses) with respect to the traversed dominant field. In particular, the velocity of light is constant with respect to the local gravitational field.
This results in a rational, simple theory that satisfies the relativity principle without having to modify space and time. It derives all experimentally verified phenomena following from the Einstein theory, plus two more: the quantization of electron orbits (plus the Schrodinger equation), and the Titius series of planetary distances.

/ 1 212pp.

clothbound

$36ppd.

The Colem Press, Box 1342,

Boulder, CO 80306

Test yourself:
Right or Wrong?

An accelerated electron must radiate.
-W- -rong. The electrons osciiiating in a microwave transmission line are accelerated millions of times every second, but if the line
is terminated by a matched impedance, they do not radiate - as
we know from both theoretical derivation and experiment. It is true that all electromagnetic radiation is due to accelerated electrons; but the converse (all accelerated electrons radiate) does not follow.
When an electron undergoes oscillations that accelerate it in free space with respect to its own field (as qualitatively described in the Preface on p. 1 of this flyer), it undergoes natural oscillations at a natural frequency determined by its energy. A detailed calculation of the Poynting vector, performed in the book, shows that energy moves from kinetic energy associated with the electron itself to its electromagnetic field and back again (as one might expect even from that qualitative description): the Poynting vector reverses direction twice per cycle because the electric and magnetic fields are in phase quadrature. This differs markedly from the case of forced oscillations of an electron, forced by an external source of energy (as in a radio antenna), when its electric and magnetic fields oscillate in phase, change direction simultaneously, and therefore produce a Poynting vector always in the same direction, namely that of propagation.
The Einstein formula for the advance of Mercury's perihelion was first derived by Albert Einstein from his General Relativity Theory in 1915.
No. It was derived 17 years earlier by Paul Gerber, by classical
physics and under the same assumption as in the present book -
that gravity propagates from its source with velocity c. This is easily checked in any college library that has the 1898 volume
(vol. 43) of Zeitsch. f.Mathem u. Physik; Gerber's paper "Die
raurnliche und zeitliche Ausbreitung der Gravitation" is on pp.93-104. The "Einstein" formula appears on p. 103.
Since the velocity of light is a universal constant, light propagates with a constant velocity from west to east (with the rotation of the earth) and east to west (against it).
Right only if one defines,as Einstein does, the velocity of light as a universal constant, and then invokes General Relativity (Special Relativity is not enough) to produce the time dilations and space contractions necessary to explain the experimental evidence: the two light beams, if made to interfere, will produce a fringe shift with respect to a control loop in which the velocities cancel. The explanation by Galileian relativity needs only two or three lines of high-school algebra.
The experiment was performed by Michelson and Gale in 1924 in Clearing, Illinois, in evacuated pipes (glass cannot be used as Fresnel drag would compensate for any difference). With an interference loop 6,246 feet or some lo1' wavelengths long, it is perhaps the most grandiose interference experiments ever performed; its accuracy still greatly exceeds today's techniques by masers and the Mossbauer effect.
Yet this experiment of fundamental importance, explainable either by the tensors of General Relativity or by the simplicity of

the Galileian transformation, rarely makes it into the basic textbooks. Instead, they make the case for the Einstein theory by the the basic textbooks. Instead, they make the case for the Einstein theory by the Michelson-Morley experiment, which is explainable by no less than four different theories (Einstein, entrained-ether, ballistic, and gravitational).
The experimentally demonstrated velocity
dependence of mass and the mass-energy formula a n not be derived without the Lorentz transformation.
They are so derived in the book - from no more than the Prin-
ciple of Relativity and the Maxwell Equations.
The acute angle made by the paths of elementary particles after collision favors the Einstein theory over classical physics.
Quite the contrary. In view of the preceding item, there should be no difference. But there is one, since the derivation in both cases relies on the conservation of momentum. In classical physics, the latter rests on the equality of action and reaction, but thoughtful Relativists always introduce conservation of momentum without referring to this fundamental principle, which is contradicted by the Einstein theory. For example, the force by a stationary charge on an equal charge moving at right angles to the line joining them differs from the force by the latter on the former: the two forces are F,, =qE, and Fzl=q&, but though the charges are equal, the fields are not - the moving charge has its lines of force bunched by space contraction, and the magnetic force cannot compensate (there is none).
The Maxwell Equations and the Galileian transformation cannot be simultaneously valid if the Relativity Principle is to hold.
The Maxwell equations proper do not contain an explicit velocity; they contain it implicitly only in the current density (J=QV). Velocity is contained explicitly in the Lorentz force, which is ultimately our only way of measuring electromagnetic fields. If the velocity that makes the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force valid is the relative velocity of charge with respect to traversed field (not the observer), then the Maxwell-Lorentz equations satisfy the Relativity Principle automatically. The undisputed fact that the Maxwell equations are invariant to the Lorentz transformation is a very different statement from the one above.
The successes of the Lorentz transformation, the results of the Michelson-Morley and Ives-Stilwell experiments, and the numerous correct predictions guarantee the validity of the Einstein theory.
A thousand confirmations of a theory do not prove it, for a
single discrepancy can destroy it - as shown by the ether theory,
which also boasted an uncommon number of correct predictions in its day. Moreover, certain aspects of a theory do not get verified until challenged by a rival theory. (As an historical curiosity, one might add that the three authors above, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Michelson and Herbert Ives did not accept the Einstein theory, and remained resolutely opposed to it to their deaths in 1927, 1931 and 1953, respectively.)

Some early comment:

Thir book i s a major contribution to the veryfoundations of physics and

electrical engineering. Although it is really a revolutionary book,

&vmt~ti??g m f e f n kre!gtIyity, if & l y , + t m l ~ ~ i t h g bu ti ~ cgad

CQ~=

siderationand credit where credit is due.

Dr. Beckrnann has talentfor providing simple analogies that make subtle

physical phenomena easily understood. So the book k very readable.

Neverthelw he does not hesitate to go into whatever level of mathematical

or physical analysis that is required for scientBc credibili&

In book

addition provides

taovtahleuaobrliegihniastlocriocnatlrbibauctkiognros,uanndd. .t.he-y

are

numerous,

the

Thomas G. Barnes

Professor Emeritus of Physics

Universityof Texas at El Paso

The greatest crime scientists can commit ik to distort the results of

experiment to support their theories. I can understand your admiration of
Michekon and his anger with Einstein. . .

Every success to your book.

Dr Louis Essen

Former Director

Time and Frequency Division

National Physical Laboratory

Teddington, England

It was with some trepidation thatI agreed to review a book which offered to challenge Einsteinian relativity. Were it not for Prof. Beckmann's ex-
cellentpublication record and credentials. .. I would not have agreed to the
task.. .
Frank&, Iapected an easy go of it; what Idiscovered is worthy of a wide
audience. .. Regardless of whether Beckmann's hypothesis i s finally
discovered to be correct or not, one cannot ignore some very cogent arguments which he presents.
Howard C. Hayden
Professor of Physics
University of Connecticut Storrs, Corn.

Your Library

may not order this book unless YOU recommend it. If you feel it ought to be in your college or research library, please sign the slip below and forward it to your librarian.
Thank you.
----------------

Dear Librarian:

I recommend the acquisition of the following book: '

Einstein Plus Two by P. Beckmann, Golem Press,

Boulder, Colo., 1987; Libr. of Congi. No. 85-82516, ISBN

0-911762-39-6, price $36. Obtainable from:

The Golem Press, Box 1342, Boulder, Colorado 80306

- -

Recommended by:

Date:

,.- -
, -

*.

.- -

-

-I

- , A

-.- - - - -*-
-- .

Doubting Dada Physics

by Tom Bethell

reached Petr Beckrnann by phone at Einstein's theory of relativity, and for This medium was called the "ether" and

the Community Hospital in Boulder, showing how physics could be returned the great challenge for nineteenth-centu-

Colorado. He sounded very weak. to the classical foundations from which it ry physicists was to detect it.

'He had an infected kidney, a complica- was dislodged at the beginning of the

The most famous experiment was car-

tion of prostate cancer. He was eager to twentieth century.

ried out by Michelson and Morley in

get back home so he could finish the July

1887. Since the Earth must be moving

issue of his newsletter, Access to Energy. He would be telling his readers that he couldn't go on publishing it and that his

E ver since he learned relativity theory, Beckmann felt there must be something wrong with it. When

through this ether in its orbit around the sun, it should be possible to detect an "ether wind," just as it is possible to feel

good friend Art Robinson would soon he retired from teaching, he returned to the wind by putting,your hand out a

take over. (A biochemist, Robinson was the subject, spending several years on a moving car. Albert Michelson, the first

at one point scientific director of the book called Einstein Plus Two (1987).l American to win the Nobel Prize in

Linus Pauling Institute.)

He believes now that relativjty theory physics, designed the apparatus to mea-

Beckmann has long been an inspira- "has been confirmed only in a narrow sure it. But despite repeated attempts, no

tion to me. His newsletter exposes the sector of physics, leads to logical ethereal breeze could be detected.

political abuse of science, and brilliantly contradictions, and 'is unable to derive (Michelson's "interferometer" had been

elucidates many scientific issues. In his results that must be postulated, though expected to measure a "fringe shift"

house in the foothills of the Rociues, he they are derivable by classical methods." where criss-crossing light rays were

has a printing press, and there he also He also believes that the theory is defi- brought together.) This "null result" publishes a journal cal!ed Galifcar, nitely fdsifiec! by !te aberrz:icn of light threw the world of physics into-disaiiay.

Electrodynamics. Over the last twenty from binary stars. An article to this effect A wave without a medium! years he has published many other pam- will be published in the next issue of

phlets and books: The Health Hazards of Galilean Electrodynamics.

nter Einstein, fresh from the Bern

Not Going Nuclear, Musical Musings, a

The problem that Einstein tried to

Patent Office. He posited that

book about language.

solve, the new problems that arose with

there was no medium, and that the

I

He was born in Prague in 1924. Both his solution, and Beckmann's brilliant res- speed of light is the same in all direc-

I

his parents were Communists. A refugee olution, of all these difficulties, are not so tions, irrespective of the motion of any

in England during World War 11, he difficult as they may sound. In fact, mysti- apparatus set up to detect it. His famous

joined a Czech R A F squadron and fication has greatly enhanced Einstein's 1905 paper, setting forth the special theorepaired radar equipment. After returning reputation. i hasten to add that Beckmann ry of relativity, demonstrated that if these

to Czechoslovakia, he earned a Ph.D. in is a great admirer of Einstein, whose odd assumptions are made, everything

electrical engineering, then defected to famous equation of energy and mass, can be shoe-horned in mathematically.

the U.S. in 1963. ~e taught at the E=MC2, is unaffected by all this; in fact, But it was odd. If a sound wave moves

University of Colorado until he took it was derived independently of relativity. toward you at 750 miles an hour, and you

early retirement in 1981. I have had the

By the mid-nineteenth century, the walk toward it at 5 mph, you will detect

privilege of talking to him for many, evidence that light travels in waves had the sound approaching at 755 miles an many hours, and one day I hope to write become overwhelming; wave theory hour. Observation agrees with common

a memoir of him. At some point in the accounted for refraction, polarization, sense. The same is true of all other waves

next century, I believe, people will want and many other phenomena of light. The one can think of. But not electromagnetic

to know more about this solitary genius, great puzzle was to understand what phenomena (including light), said Ein-

who found his own audience and pub- medium it travels in. Sound needs air; stein. The velocity of light was accorded
lished his own ideas and discoveries at a light needs . . . what? It can travel a privileged, "absolute" status. Move to-

time of growing intellectual corruption in through a vacuum, through interstellar ward the light source, and you will detect

the academy. Above all, he is likely to be space. But if it is a wave, there must be it approaching you at the same speed as

remembered for having undermined an oscillating medium, however rarified. someone who is standing still.

That was where absurdity came in. To

I

Tom Berhell is The American Spectator's Available for $36 from Box 25 1, Boulder, preserve the absolute nature of the speed

Washington correspondent.

Colorado 80306. Warning: It's technical.

of light, space and time had to be distorted.

I

The American Spectator

August 1993

I

i

3
i
Two twins are the same size: If A moves, i' he sees B smaller than himself. But B like-
wise sees A as smaller than himself. Which is absurd. Reality becomes observer-dependent, in opposition to the most basic precepts in science. The alpha and omega of the material world-the irreducible character of time and space-were sacrificed in order to preserve an absolute velocity. But velocity itself is nothing but space (distance) divided by time! This was Dada Physics. (It's interesting that the Dada movement, "having as its program the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional cultural and aesthetic forms," came right after the general relativity theory [I9 151.)
Beckmann says that most students of physics shrug and accept relativity theory-theirs is not to quarrel with the sainted genius of the twentieth century. Some have private reservations. Among intellectuals in general, the theory has been much admired: so abstruse, so deliciously disrespectful of the eternal verities, so marvelously baffling to the bourgeoisie. It doesn't interfere with the daily routine, makes-nopractical difference to the Newtonian world. But it does upset its theoretical underpinnings. Wonderful! The Muddled Majority who feel so reassured by their comion-sense understanding of the world just don't realize that things aren't what they seem to be at all.
ondering the theory in the late 1950s at Prague's Institute of Radio Engineering, Beckmann concluded that there had to be a medium for light, and in an offhand comment, a student named Pokorny, a (then) devout Communist, suggested the correct answer, as Beckrnann is now convinced: the medium for electromagnetic waves is the local gravitational field--dense near the sun, attenuated in outer space. On Earth, the local field is that of the Earth itself. The point is, the Earth's gravitational field moves along with the earth. So that was why Michelson-Morley could detect no ether wind. It was like sitting in a jet as it goes down the runway, holding a toy propeller in your lap and expecting the wind to turn the blades. Absurd-the air in the cabin is moving forward with the plane. But wait! The Earth also rotates on its axis, and there is good reason to think that the gravitational field does not go around with the Earth. Imagine this field as a hoop skirt on a woman with a circu-

lar waist. As she walks forward the skirt moves with her. But then, as she walks, she pirouettes, and now her body will slip around inside the skirt.
If this analogy is correct, .the Michelson-Morley experiment might have been able to detect a fringe-shift after a!!-hut Im ~ c hsmz!!er m e than they had been looking for. In the latitude of New York the rotational velocity of the Earth is just one-hundredth of its forward movement around the sun. The relevant equation requires that this fraction be squared. So the expected fringe-shift would only be one ten-thousandth of what Michelson-Morley looked for. Even with today's equipment, such a shift would be difficult (although possible) to detect. It could easily be detected on the space shuttle, because the shuttle goes through the gravitational field much faster than the Earth.
ere are a few little-known points, casting doubt on Dada Physics. Michelson himself never accepted relativity theory, and toward the end of his life he developed an "entrained ether" theory similar to Beckmann's. In 1925, with a colleague at the University of Chicago, he did a complex experiment with very long lightpaths (Michelson-Gale), and it did show a confirming fringe-shift. The experiment is omitted from almost all physics texts today. Electromagnetic signals travel from Washlngton to Los Angeles more quickly than they do coming back. The difference is very small-37 nanosecondsbut consistent and repeatable. This is exactly what Beckmann's theory would predict, but it is something of an embarrassment to Einstein (who did not know about it; only recently have clocks been accurate enough). Howard Hayden, a professor in the Physics Department at the University of Connecticut (Storrs), has taken up the cudgels for Beckmann, and has been giving talks on the subject to physics departments in New England. The response has been respectful: some puzzlement,. no contradictions, only one or two indignant folk walking out in a huff. Hayden makes the following amazing claim: the constancy of the speed of light, irrespective of the observer's movement, has not been demonstrated experimentaIly. Hayden and Beckmann are offering a

$2,000 reward (hereby offered to American Spectator readers) to anyone who can (pay attention) cite in the literature a valid optical experiment demonstrating that the speed of light east to west on the Earth's surface is the same as it is west to east, to an accuracy of 50 , pb1 TI,P L,LSiP' aoLbI-bnn"lld. Note: the expeilmeiii does not have to be done, merely cited. In response to an earlier article I wrote on the subject, this offer was published in Science magazine (November 30, 1990), but there were no takers.
Beckmann now says that the aberration of light from binary stars definitely refutes Einstein. "Without any equivocation," Hayden confirmed, "I can say that the stellar-aberration prediction of Einstein is wrong." Hayden's goal is to repeat Michelson-Morley in the space shuttle. He thinks' he may have a shot because one of the astronauts is his former student.
ere's another surprise. A heralded confirmation of Einstein was the small discrepancy between the orbit of Mercury and the result predicted by Newton. Einstein's formula explaining Mercury's orbit was published in 1915 and was derived from general relativity, using very complex mathematics. Beckmann then found out. that the same formula exactly had been published in 1898 by a man named Paul Gerber, who lived in Stargard, Germany, and was apparently a high school teacher! Gerber had used classical physics, plus the assumption that gravity propagates with the speed of light, not instantaneously, as Newton had assumed. Beckmann found this information in another self-published book, ,put out in 1982 by someone in Cornwall, England. When the author heard that Beckmann's CzechIRAF squadron had been stationed in Cornwall, he sent Beckrnann a free copy. "The guy's a nut," Beckmann said when he saw it, "like people who say chess is in the Bible." Gerber had beaten Einstein by seventeen years, using classical physics? How come this wasn't in the textbooks? Beckmann immediately bicycled to the U.C. library, pulled the old journal off the shelf. ''The Einstein formula jumped out at me," Beckrnann said. "I was dumbfounded." When I spoke to Beckmann more recently at the Boulder hospital he said in a faint voice: "Einstein is dead. But it will take decades to bury him." IJ .

The American Spectator

August 1993

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c ~ l c eOII I I I ~ !'.II~a:, ;in t r ~ c r h c s dcloud, r l ~ i l (hl o o m i n the occult, and I take it

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ill tllc hf1:iI \I.I:c\ O~'~II~C\IIOJIkI!. 110h problem in atti.rnptillg t o de~ligratethe

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.I 1<011:1Ult~l :I~.III\ \IILL,\\I 111l ~ r c \ ~ i l c ~ ~ccy ybincc tlle lY50s. N o w as he rcclcrs -111;igic." kL)I c \ \ li,)Iiricsl .>age tllrnugh his ergltrh arid filial sunililcr

t 1 1 i i r 1 I l r . (i;~rr! L\'ill,. r o i l i r ~ s111 [he i n the \t'hitc tlouse and the sniping be-

;>ape>oI' 771t1c rll,lg;lrmc, attr11)utcJthe girls, ir is instructi\.e l o rrcall Illat Ilc

l 1 t c ~ ~ ~ I>cI~I<1~rC' <~t o\ '.ill;igic." So now is the first President s i ~ l c cEisenhower

\\c L.II~I\\ I ~ L .\ollrc2 III IIIL 111;ig1c.\ V l ~ y to rrach such ii l > o i l ~at nd ~ h ocnly one

,111 IIIC \ l l r I ~IlW'!

i n hislory to ;ichic\e ir at the ageol'77.

b o n l r o i I ~ i sear ly accc1n1plishr1lc111\ are n o u bc'gill~lingto 1.1r111\11t.li\ policy i n (.c'r~rr;iI ;\111crica ih in a ~li\111;1l condir on. 11c had r e l ~ ~ l > ~ l i ~~al ~i c' d prc\tigc- r ~ ~l l l cpr~.\iJcnc>,I>IItIl1.11 l>rc>rigc i > 11ou ~orllc\rliat rc~lucecl. \I>[ i n hor 11 cats the r e \ ! ~ o ~ ~ > r b r l l t ! for ~ l l c \ c~ > r o l > l c ~hnass l o he hurne lc;~\t ill I>:III by olhcrh: i r ~ ('~,IIII;I~ : \ n ~ c r i ~1~11t the ~ ~ ) r ~ g r e \ s i oIn);~~ Il IIL)ir;ir\ \ \ l i t ) !Ii\varr hi\ polic) i \ ~ t l ri ~ ohe1 tcr 1>1)Iit>ro oll'cs; i n ~IIICIIII.I$~ b \ tI1t)sc \ \ h o l ~ a v e110 Ilt)l~or.\\'IIL>II ~ l i c l ~ i \ t ioa1~1, ~ ~ o r i 1 ~ 1 1 1111~cll)~r tthcp ~ , r!i ~
a ~ l dlicacc. (11' [he Kcagar1 )c:lr\. l l ~ c \ ;ire I ) I I I ~ro 11uv~1 0 ~o11iro11O1IIC
iact: Horlald Kcag~11\\LI\ I'ICIIJCIII

CAPITOL IDEAS

BECKbIA4NNVS. EINSTEIN

A Itcr I lo\\arJ t IICIII;cI~ o~'lS ference ter (a marvelous read every month), at rhc I . i r i i r c r \ ~ t yo f Colorado Drckmann writes books and publihhcs

("lh~ultler'\ Uorlcl." LIS. J u ~ l c1988) tlleln l i i ~ l i ~ c1l1f11derhc imprint o f G o -

I ac111rrl) IIII<.I tllc Kock) hluuntain Iem Press. Tlre I l e u l r h )iu:urd.s oJ N o r

Itj~)tllillu1,) \cc rn) 0111 I'ricud Pctr Going Nrrc./<ur has bold SO,~KX)copies

H e c k ~ ~ ~ a\nrll~,ll ,l i \ c \ In a ~ n o u ~ l r a i nsince Ile puhli\hed i t i n 1976, and The

~ ! I I C U I I ~l l i ~ i l cII~IICtw.o bl;lck ffis/ar.v oft'; has sold well, too. Hut the

I abr;rdi>r\, .In A.11. !lick 360 printing book that interested me and that 1

p ~ c \ \\.i i c ~ l c chcv~k.,and l i ) ~ ~ r ~ ~aanIdu . wanted l o dirsuss w i t h h i m was pub-

;1 III~I.\\ 111' l > ~ ~ l > l i \ l i il~~lagr i ~ l > l ~ e r ~ i a l i\ah.ed onlv recently-t'imrein I'1ri.c.

loti11 S1cC ~ r t h ? a, c~1n1p111c.r-scicnceT~IYI, a critique (perhaps a demolition)

l>rt>ic\hordt S t a ~ ~ l o r;J;i,ll\ Hcckr~iann o f Einstein's special theory o f relativi-

"tllc I I \ Stone oI' the right," bur that ty. H e spent four years wriring it, b u t i\1101q ~ l i ~ ~ eIIt;Irlgct. Ilc'k~ilann is part hc had worked o n it sporadically for

I~licrt,iria(~b~ur he con\id~*rsmost Iiber- dccades, c o n d l ~ c ~ i nsogme espcrilncnrs

r;lri,lns ttio Ic~t-\\irl:), part Randian relevant t o the theory while tcnching at

( t o o 11111~11ot'ii ~ 1 1 1 1the~c).alld \\holly the University o f Colorado.

;III!~.('~I~~IIILIII~~IS.i~r;c 1973 he has

RcoL~liannrold me that he is con-

1>11l~I1\11,4c~d1.c>.$\10 f;t~(stg.v, a "I'ro- fident there is a fundamental error i n

Science. F'I.o-Technt)logy. I'ro-Free Einstein'b theory. H i s book presents a

E ~ ~ t c r p r i \ lc, r ~ l r I i l ~ Se\b\lrtter," for different theory, giving results consis-

3bo1113 i M i suhs~~rlhcrsE.very Jay he tent with all known expcrinlents, i n -

cluding t l ~ n s cninst rcce~ltlyconducted

Iiih r ~ ~ a ~ I - ~ i \ t IcIIIcICn, rorrnd (rip, vcr- with lasers. Ikckmann's theory also LT-

tical c l i ~ n hol' 1100 I'cer i l r ~the way plains two further phenomena which

h;~ck-\rhich is \ ~ ~ l ' f i c i e netxercise for Einstein's Iheory cannot derike-the

u hl-y.car-old Inun H I ~ '~ii~I Iec11\crCWs qua~ltir;lriono f electron orbits, and the

i r l I1i9 \I\IIIho~lc(.1)icy:llng accidcnr i n Tirius-Bode Lair;,describing the orbits

o f all four known planetary systems

([lie Solar System and the moons o f
. ------... - -- -- Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus).
7i1111t l i ~ ~ l r rrsl l T l ~ e.Alncrican Spec- \Ve uent out for a walk and Beck-

laror :I. I l i ~ r l r i t ~ q ~c~oo~rrre.spot~rlaen~di~ mann rold me a bit about himself, oc-

Y ttl(,(/trl /i'l/011. ILI (IIP I I o o : . ~ rIII.\!~I~I- casionally giving orders i n Czcsh to one

rro~r. .I c.~~l/c,r/~o(r!r/ Irh otrllvr, l'hc o r :111othsro f his dogs. H e \\.as b o r n

t : l ~ ~ i \lVl i~ l ( l ~ l r l l l1. 1.~1i11111l1rIrc.cIl )jai n l'rague i n 1924, and, because his fa-

/?vq~~i~Cr;U,iIO.I-~,I, 1/11~v/~ritr,c.

[her was categorized as politically en-

dangcrcd ( b o t h his parents \+ere C'urll- \+illC C I ~ I ~ ~ I ~ I I"Cr11111k1 e are 1111 (!\el 1l1c

~ r i ~ r n i s tas\, &ell a:, Jc\ri$h). he ;III~1113 11c;ld UIIII a stiLk." \ ~ ' I I ~t1I1i11 \ri(.h *.\III niorhcr \rere tri~n.\parlcdas rcfuprcs to I1c IICdoc> 11ot LIIO~, tlut OIIC ~ O \ \ I I ) I I I

Englnnd ill 1939. t i e \per11 \\brld \\ar I>15 " 1 1 1 ~Sovict U11it)llhe111gI~ILL.II O\I r

Two ill t-.rlgland, enli,tcd i n a ( ' ~ c c h b! 111c11111itary."

squadron o f the Koyal :\ir I'orie. 3lld

scr\iccd tllc 1l1c11secrcr rarlnr priijcct.

14s so rrcaslrres his wdl.ti~ncnlcrllorres

~L.~II>:IIIII

1i11d IIIC t11a1 11,~ 11,itl

D o l England !ha1 he doc\n't \rant t o go

d o ~ ~ h t c cLl-.in\tcin's 111co1) ~ \ c r

hack and dihcovcr rhat \.ictory was u011 zlliic IIC\+;IS I'il\l 1;111gI11t1 I1 \\;I\ 1 1 ti;..

orily t h a ~f'lrnk Rock night ~ r i u l ~ l l l l l .he ~ o n c c d c d .that Inally "IIIII\" I. i i i I . ~ b

I n 1945 Beckmann rerurned t o [lin\rsill, hut a fair n u n ~ h e r(11 ~~--.pcc-

C~eshoslo\akia, received a I'I1.I). In trthle ~ c i c n r i ~ thsate long clclr.\~IIIIIL~~

Electrical Engi~lecringfrom I'rag~rc rhc rheory as well, arrlorlg rllc111h l h ~ . r ~

Technical I.Illiversity, and Ihen a I > c ) ~ - .4. %lichclson o l h l i c h c l v ~ ~h l\t ~ r l c )

tor o f Science dcgrce l'roni [lie C/cclio- I ~ I I I ~I j.e c k r ~ ~ a snlri~d I!III\I~III'\ \IIL.L 1.11

slovak Academy o f Sciences. I n 1963 rhcory should not be c ~ l l c da IIICII~!

he wa5 ~ n \ i t c ibly the I J ~ l i + r r ~ 0i1t' y('01- ''(it rcl:~ti\,ity," l'or 111,it 15 IIOI *II.II

orado l o L)c a vig~tingprolkssor; he de- ~ I l A l d c li~/cf> r11c tllcllly. I IIL. ~ ~ l l \ l l l l . l l c

fected to the U.S. the follo\r.lrlg year, ol' rclalivity uas stated 11) I\;I~cFL-.~II~II

and thereafrrr t e taught electrical i n !he l'rrrrc.~piu and ljecLni;cnri c o r ~ .

engineering at Boulder until his retlre- \ ~ d c r >11~ ~ r ~ c i ) ~ i ~ r ~ iA! ~ .rL\ i~;I~~l(,I11I1I I ~

men[ irl 1981. t l e has i>r~l)lihhedIllore i t . 11' IUIC r ~ l l j ci~\ lIIILI\III~ 111 r c l i c l ~ ~ . ~ ~

than 60 scicntilic papers, 1110\11y 111 d r ~ o r l i ~ I. ~~ C. I Ci b [lo " l ~ r i \ ~ l t ~ ppc1vd.i

devorcd IC) electron~agneticsand prob- tion" irl l h r u ~ i i v e r \ rI>t.rnllttlllg II\ III

ability theory.

d t i i d ~u hich is n l o v i ~ l gand n l l i c l ~i \ 4 1

L ) l ~ r i r ~ ghi5 eighteen years 31 tllc re\!. Tlrc law\ or ~ I I > ;\i l~~ pLl yl\rtll),lr

univcr\ity Ikckmann wit a t r c n ~ e r ~ d o ~i ~i;~lll>u.llcrher you dccidc IIIIC I\ III~I\

declirlc irl higher educarion, begirln~ng ing arid [lie othcr a1 re\[, or \ i r e \ c I \ ~

with the Vietnam war, rhe slide corllin- 11 I\ l:in\lcii~'s I ' a n l o ~ ~ \ CLCII,J

uing t o (his day. "England i r ~1939 nas [ ) i r \ r ~ ~ l a rtlcl;rl I J c c k ~ ~ l a~n. l~~~, ~ l l ~ . ~ r g t \

nowhere near as far gonc as the U S . tllc clairli that the spccd ( 1 1 I I ~ I I II\ a

is today," Ile said rrith cl~aractcristic con\tant, u l ~ c t l ~ oer 1101 11ic ~ r t > t c r \ c r

pessimi5rn. hloreotcr. "Ii i r lcr had vcr) i> mot ing 111 rc1;11io1I1LI 111cII~III\(IIIIL c.

few synlpalh~rers," urllilc tlle SIIVI~I :I, I:~II\Il~a ~II~Ii o c ~L\.lI.\I~IIICJ. I i r t ~

.I I c a d c r \ l l ~ pto day^ Il c h c l ~ ' \II~IC~ g~cr~. ( ~ h \ c r r c ~(r\r,lc IIIII\III~IIIU.II(~ 1 ~ ,11~1 ~ ~ 1
cral derrrioralion o f ~ n o r a lirn ~ h 1ci.S. o111crau;i> frorrl Iiglrt \ o ~ l r ~ cU,III

' ) I 1 l l l l i l l I c i t l l i l l ) - fcrcnt speed as i t nloves i n t o t h e g r a t i - t h a t ()I. 111e I.ield5 rllar Ile {,L.yL)rlJ."

0lllr.1 I,Ll~lc., \ I ~1111~1 ~Acl~clll,~Jlll~l ,

' I r c 1 ldllicil P

-

t a t i o n a l l'icld o f the Earth. L.ight, i n ,\s c a n he sho\vn by ,jlllplc geu-

ll,,),lrOe Ml)-!1.1~c~~. ~ ~ l l ~ d l l , l l lt,l\ed

I1liLrL1lllh1\ellt'. tll'

c l ~ ~ l l tlh a l I'acl, should he r l i o t ~ g l i ct ~ af s a d i > ~ ~ ~llr,c-lry, E i ~ ~ \ l c ~ cl ll'asj n ~01. a c ~ ~ l ~ ~ ~ ;1,l) l~l ~1 1 \l~la1cc ;llllj llll)e ;l~oll~~! l~ l l l c~, ~ \ ~

1 \

1 l ' 1 1 \ 1 1 1 1 - h a n i e OF he gravitaiional I'ield, jirsl as I

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prl.;i\cl\ ,,I l,(.l 1llc gc,llllc.~ I I, ,11,

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, 1 1 l \ . ~ 1 [ , 1 ~ ~ \1 C ~ l l L ~Ji~l ~~ I ~ I .

\ l ; ~ r . h)r c \ , r l l l l \ l ~ . \\1II ~ l , i \ c l :\I s)nc i n g i n t o a rivcr ;III~i n l o l l l c sea," \ p ; ~ c c u r ~ t~l i r l ~ c ; ~ ~ c c l ~ ~ ~ o ~ .~. ~c~ dI I ~~1. ~I I~~I I~~1 ,~I C~C~ ~\d,IIlI~t ~l0.~11-11 ~ 1 1 1

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Bcckmarln writcs, " l i y l i ~ tra\,clh w i l h I by I ; is I . 1 1,llcll,

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1 1 a ~ r o l h hc vacuum i n the terreslrial field, througll ~ / l e ~ l l ~ t j \d. c p\ c ~ l d c ~ , ~ llle\.el,,cilj L.,~~\,~,,,~[JI,,., I , , , , ,

ikI \bll,l

'IIIII, a11J III~IIII';I\L'I ;II :I \ l i g I ~ ~ Idyit'- l h a l in ~ h c~0131.I'icld, a n d t h r o c i g l ~ o l ' l h c n h \ t r \ c r . 'I<, ;I I . a \ l - ~ ~ ~t,uon\lhi, ~ ~ ,~ill\L~ ;I~\IlIrIII~:, I t ~ a t 111c C~ I C I~

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DO YOU think
the media are biased?

If so, Mediawatch is for you. Every month Mediawatch will give you examples, quotes, studies and analysis exposing the liberal bias of the media, especially the TV networks.

Get one year of Mediawatch for

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prt).ltl~~ I I V \cIi)cil> ( I I I ~ I 1r1.11L \ 1111. \ ~ I I I ~ ~ I I I I1I1I 1111i)\ III;II U I I ~ IIC\~)CI.I 10
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I! ~ ~ )dll l dl ~ c ~ pi l ?~t f i \ t l tI'OILC VII\ 1 1 1 ~ \\III~IIIIIILI.c c p i ~ ~1g1 1I~IIIJI IIII~II~JII~L\~. a \ o h \ c ~ \ c d '.1 Ilc l . ~ l l \ r ~ iInIICO!.I 11) cf. IL.<I. I;~I.c\ I I I ~1 ~ 1 1 1 ~IO1 ~II; I)IIII I ~ ~ I I LL, \
IIIC I,I\\\ OI p l l y \ i i \ . IIIII..~II~IILI I,..
ycirdlc\\ 01' o b w ~ \ c r :\\1tll \II,~,~ICI LJLI I I ~ I I I~~L I II Io~l > \ c ~ \ c . "
\I~,ILL. .III.I 1i111c~11c(IIII I I I ~ ~ < I I ~ I : I L L ~ ~ ~ ~ L ~" ~I IiI\.c! ~i t \ . " . I I IL~ C.!,~.s:I~:, I..;:.,, :* d i i I L I 1L1)~1 i r 1 1 ~I\j i l ~ . r i \ i * dt'r0111I I I ~I ~ I I~C~LI~I;IIIII l i l c n s I I I .~I~.IIIII~,II~IIIII.II 111cLIC>I~\;I(\IC~I\,CILI(\) i \ III~IL l b . i \ ~ i 111,ln I!\C IIIIILI;~IIICI)I(.IsI\l x i ~ c;II~JI~III<.) 1,' I~IL. L , ~ I ~ IIII ~6l1~l I ; ~~l i \I\II,~) .L)I.~ ~ ~ ~

The latest examples of distorted doom and gloom economic reporting from the

I C I ~ I ~ ~11I1*I t . ~ i ~ I i . I I l lIrIILl ~ I ~ ~ I IIIIIr,oIl $111114 ~1011\c.~ H L ~ ~ ~ I ItIl!1! 1~~1\1111111,1111 ~ 111~. \ ~ L , L ) I I[~ICIIaI?~IILd*o c \ $11

L

TV networks.

L

"Revolving Door." a listing

I cI\kL'd iii>Oll\ ~ ~ 1 ~ 1 \ 1 ~ 1~ 1d 1l 'l5~ l ~ ~k1 l1 '1- ~

IIIIII;I l~ilII;I~~I1~ lIl;I\> ;ILI

l.lll~ll'r

What some ol our readers say:

of the latest reporters moving

11 -- 111~') t t ; ~ i lI ~ III\OI Il~x.1J1LIIIIIII-

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b " B ~ U VtOo MediaWatch for exposing the hypocrisy in so much o f what's going on in the

media.

I&iI$" l ~ c r l c ~c~~~I~lIyL.L.~I,~" CL~.I1I1I..;III~I p l ~ c d ."IIIII ~ ( I IcI an ~ l c ~11~Ir\oc11111111.

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has airnos! no competition and absolutely no

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,r 1 equal whale ver. "

-William Rusher

I Publisher, National Review

Analysis of how the media promote Gorbachev's views at summits.
The networks. agenda to destroy the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters.
,,,,,,
or t m - d e d u c h l e confnbuhon r29,W
D t h e Media Ressarch C e n t w o u w d rBCeiye I

\ e l \ I l I l ) iiClcl11L~dp 1 l l l ~ ~ l ~ l1I1L1'~GI\LL 110.

III~~IILYI\III

\\II~I~I~I\ ~ I \ I ~ V \ I I I ~ I.IL~

; ~ n dtirile." 111c l i c L ~1.1 h;i\ IIOI~IIII1~,) -

Lit> \+Ill1 I l l l \ l c i l l ~ \1 l l C ~ ~ l l >i ' l l \ \ l l 1.1,

1'cI"rc i ' i " \ l e i l l c;"llc "'1 ! ""'c I" d e r i \ ~ ~II~ICpI o r r ~ ~ u l a - - \ o>a~hi ~I1~c11r1

I ~ o , l l c a r ~dirl,

\\.II:II at)o111III~O~I-~C~~W,I\I[CillL\ ~ (11

IIIC~ ~ I \ ; oIfI IhLl l t~r ~~~ ~ r ~y ')\~~IIIICII~III

llllr o r h i l a l r x ~ i l l lc l o \ c \ l lo l l l c \IIII)'!

(4 43-scc.or1ds-oV-arc-per-cc11u1r > di,-

1 12 c o m p l i m e n t a r y issues of MedioWatch. I crcpa1lL.y ( I r o n l l l l e r e \ ~ i~l ,~rccli~,tctd)y

b "MediaWatch performs a vital public service in calling altention to those instances

I O r d e r now. I
Check

il BiU m e

I N e w ~ c > nh)a d hcen d i \ i t ~ \ c ~ citnl IKKrl.
1 ~11ppo\i-111[,: i i ~ \ t c i l ~ '1\ 11cory. . ~ I ~ ~ I L . I . ed" ! h i \ "l:ln,~eis\ t l ~ u n l ya r c t ~ ~ l n ~ c d

where bias i n the media distorts and misrepresents the public's right to know.

Name

cx:ic~Jy I'or [ h i > [43.sccond] r c ~ i d i ~ c , "
I I i c r t r n l ~ c lKu'~sclul r u l e I n 71ir ..I ti( ' I!/

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' J / "nd Y ~ ~
Media Watch

"

~

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I Cei- ,er Mdia Remarch

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Alexandria. VA 22314

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L n o~u l l r , t i n nbc i n ' r i o r ~l n ~ i(lc~rl)l;~~iu-

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) before E i n r c l l l , by a lrlall n a ~ l l c cIl'JIII

(;~?rOcr, \\lie \\,:I\ proh:ibly a Iligll- errors esposcd, i f ~11~e1x1is[, Illan be ig-

\ i l l \ , c ) l lcac'livl i n Starcurd, C;cr~nariy. ~ i o r e d .A hirndl'ul o f pllysicists have

I!\iilg cla.~~rc.inilo, r I t i r l s ~ c i r ~ ~plaiynrich, t ~ k e r1l1o1eo f I3ecL1nann'seffort, how-

U I I ~tllc as\111111~tiloIi;1111 griivit)' is riot ever, among t l l r r ~tiIo\vard C. tjayclcn,

Ill\l.inr;tneouh (a\ Nc\r.rorl r l ~ o ~ i y lb~urt ) an associate professor o f pllysics at the

prol>ag;rlcS \ % ~ llhl l c \~cIocity01' ligllt, University o f Connecticut.

Cicrber ilcrivcd I.ii~~\tcinc'sq ~ ~ a t i oelxi- "Frankly. I think he's o n to solile-

:ictly. H y i~)lllTJSIl:ili\lci~l L I X ~ a Lorn- rhing," Ha)den told me over the tele-

[>Is1trick bag o f g r a t ~ t a r i o ~ ltaclnsors phone. H e said he would rr.cornniend

;IIIL~ Rrcnlilrlrii;~ngcoliielry. Yet Gcrbcr Bcckrnann's book t o anyone iiitereslcd

ih 1i11.gutrc.n.

i n the logical structure o f physics.

I \ Illere not v ~ ~ n c t l l i ~wr oglrg ~ i t h

t1;1ydc11dl\o xuid lie wa> ~ I I ~ I I I ~ JII~ I 5I tI1~~~ t cCd~~~IIIIICIII~III).I11c\IIII~>IL,~L \I. a r ~ i c l c" i r b ~ ~oi ~net ahpcct o f 11icbook" ~I;III~IIOII for :ill 111c\r~ccc(l11 1 1 ~ 1 1 1C \ t o rllc. j o u r n a l F+~~mtloriororJs'I'l<~:,lt:\.. pcrii11~1111551101 I:~II\IC i t ' \IIIkIL'S L , "I3ccknran1l asserts lhat the speed 171 II~;IIIII'\,ii11~IIC1 gel\ IIIL* rcs1)11\II~IIII,.I~. light II;I\ Iicvcr been > l ~ o \ r tl lo Ilc a con- I > at11it1111cd 10 ~ c l , i ~IIi!\ c I l t . ~ r \ slant," he iaid. "A1 firs1 I thought r h i j \ \ ~ t h o u t tlc u\c of di\lclrrccl L ~ ~ ..~I I~I.~c 1ii~1s1bc \\rang, hut I 11:ltc since re- tinre." \ ieucd Il ~ eli~eratureand 1 ha\-c not found onc paper that \r.ould sllou II~III to be illcorrect. The ct)nAtancy o l ~ h c spccd o f light lias 1101 bee11 dcnlorr-

;I~ l i c o r g~ l i a gt c ~ s!OII 10 rlrc rig111pl:lcc ( 1 1 1 ~e . \ [ ) l : ~ ~ ~ i ~!I)iIo'5~1rcrcury's o r b i ~1))s

J c.oi~lplc\route. d i \ ~ o r ~ is~plagce and

1i111c(,/I /)(I$\(I/II, u1ic11~ O L I can a r r i w

:II r l ~ eSIC

~C\I~II;IIIOII by \i111pIc

111c.t hod>'! I i k c u i w tile Xlichclson-Gale experi-
rlicnr 01' 1975 (11cr1IC, be ci)nl'used with X l i c l t c l ~ o ~ l -IXcyl )~ ~cl~cri~c>rlstrarcdan

I

d

o l i ~ l c a cl l'kcr Ilia( is inrnicdiarsly cx-

pl;i~ncdn i l l ~ ~ \ r r ' ~IItIiC~d~i igk r e n t ve-

It)cilicst ~Iifghr ;rlong d i l l'c~.crltla~itudcs
,I[the rol,llrrlg Ear111([lie Eitrth's grnv-

i r u ~ ~ o nfaiel ld tloef not rotate tt11i1 tlic

I.artl1). 3licI1cI\or1 II\CtIhIree lilles ol'

i l l ; \ ~ . ~. ~ I~g c~l >~l, 1~t1i~1 ~<~la~\\icdl ptIy.

~~lr!,leill~ c l , t ,I,asc.urtt~

\\illl

;-,.,. .....,, .->!. I.!.:, i , #i.; ,!..2 .2:;-,:<t,s!:!:
I :\IIC)III~~ I',IIII\~u \ c \ p c r i t ~ ~ c ~ i t
, i ~ p p t ~ ~ e dLlo!11Iir111cI~~.IlII\IC~II was rlrc ~I~IIIIIII~(:I[ .I[~ IIC.tIiIflIicOotI' ~ a 3oIi1r

c c l i l ~ \ eill 1010) 111;lt Iiglrt r:iyh fro111

\I;II~uli' be111\\Iicn tlley p a \ through

111s~~;I\II;~II~)IIl,iIc~l d 01 the \IIII. HIII

\II{IIrcI'rac11i11I1\ c.\a~tIyw1r.11 \vo~iId

t)c prcdiilcd 11 IIIC bc'loiily o f l i ~ l l l

\al.Ic.r a\ ~ I igcril\ i t ; ~ ~ i o ~1ilciI~d lcll;inges.

111 order IO c~lil,111111clight path oh-

\ C I \ ~ Jill I9I1). \aid Iie;kni;in~i, you d o

wh

THE RIS'TORY 01; EN(j]-,,AND

F l { O l l T I I L lS\'.L5lOS O F , l l ' l . l t ' S (:.\l.;b.\l< TO TIllC l < E \ ~ O l . t " ~ l O SI S I O h h

1s:. i):~li.ilillji ~ ~ c
Forc,,,llrd hyl,il:il,iri\
111six ~~,l~lllll,..

,3. ,rlxld

rliu nccJ I . ' i n \ ~ c i ~ <~ ~' \) m p l i c a ~ i o n \ - -

IIIII~ 111e p ~ i ~ ~ ~ I~II;IIi l l l ieg l ~ t trabclh a l o ~ l ctllc P;IIIIIIIJI gets i t fr011i A 10 1% ill r l ~ c sl1c1rcc.51tiliie (Fcrlnat's l'r~~~c~plc).
1!ic grci~tprol11c111i n tc\lillg tlie re!,III\C nlcrita 01 I:in\tc~rl'\theory arltl Ilia ~!\\II, I~Y~~I\'IliId;, IIisIItIl ~ a tall o r

\'ol11111c 1 - FITI~II the l % r i t o i ~~ s I II{I O ~ III:III~'l'hc CIIIIIIIICI~ - - II.IIL~CI%I'\H~I I(.M t

tI1ro11g11t11c d c i i t l ~o f K ~ I .Ilo~1111i11 12 10.

l b . ~ ~ i c r l i : ~#c h1.5.00

l,il)c*ny I:IIIICnIl i ~ i i j ~ tIO. S :

\'~IIIIIIC 11 -IIIIFI-I

the reifill ol' I l c ~ l n 1, 11

r l ~ r o r ~ f itl lic dciit11 o f I < i c l ~ : i n lIll ill I 15.5.
I, i l u n y I..IIII~~~-~IIII1~')IsI<I.

\'CI~IIIII~S II:I!. I i c l > ~ ~ r c l ~i;~r ~~ (~l~i\t.il tl~- .~. :~ll! Il;~rtlccr\.cr # l.5 (HJ c : ~ c l ~ I';llwl.l).~cL 6 7 S O ta;rc11

llcarl! JII IIICc\icIcrrcc c o ~ ~ l ~ i r n ~ i ~ i g

I.III~Ii \C~II~I I I b~y cI\ ~ p e Ir i~~ ~Li~neI ~ ~ ~ s

\\hiih "[he ot>\ervt.r is nailed l o thc c ~ a \ l ~ a t i i I~'ic~ld~ia)ll'tlic Earth." Anti ill ;ill such cxpcrilncl~ts, l r c k r n a n ~:ln~d I:il~\tcin\ r o ~ ~C\lI>~CClI 1 0 get 1I1tsame

~c\LIII~1.11~ ~ r i ~ ~ c il3pcl ceh.nlann sirys, there arc c\pcrllllcnts rhar can decide

I)ct\r.ccn 111sI\\[\, b r i ~at prcscnt i t is not p t ~ u i b l cttr trlc.i>lire rhir tlil'l'ercnce,

~CULI\C III~:I\LII i l l s III\~~UIIICII~S can still unlg be 111o\etl4a1n ~nhignit'icaritt'racrlon o i the \peed o f l i g h ~ .

"I ;rrn Ilrlc \(I rl.rl\c a\ t o ~ h i n kthat rllc rrryr attcnrpl I ~ 1I11ovcthe elitire

Fi~n\tt.~~nh c o r yr t t bloc o n l o classical gruulld nil1 IIIIII our 10 be perfectly correct," Brckniann writes in his prslace. l u t he [ o l d nlc l l l a t he was none-

Ihclcss conl'idenr r l ~ a tEinstein's rlleory

is wrong. h l c a n ~ l r i l c ,he said, he un5 I ) c g i r ~ ~ ~10i n\gvorry I~;II" ~ l l c y ' l lhil t o

crucil) me." t i e would rulhcr have I ~ i s

Yes, they contradictEinstein.

But not the experimental evidence. - -

-.

. -.

. - - . . . ,.- -

. - .

- - . - -. , -

-- ,

...-- -. . .

.---*.. --.--

Who?

. -

. .

The

whq publish in Galilean Electrodynamics. A

journal that 'purns

and puts truth

above authority.

Published by ignorant cranks?

. .

No; by scientists who have attained high academic rank and

international renown in their fields: Thomas G. Barnes,

Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso;

Howard C.Hayden, Professor of Physics, University of Con-

necticut; Prof: Pave1 F. Parshin, Head of Physics Dept.,

Academy of Civil Aviation, St. Petersburg, Russia; C.K.Wh-

Whitney, Visiting Industry Professor, Tufts University, Petr

B e c h n n (editor and publisher), Professor Emeritus of

Electrical Engineering, University of Colorado and Fellow,

I.E.E.E.

Galileal2Electrodynamics is published bimonthly. Volumes

1(1990) and 2 (1991) have been published.

P. Beckmann: Entrainment byNon-RefractiveMedia . I£ the BICkm- ~sglmptionw k e m e , said the critics, then a light ray paning
from one gravitational field to one moving with respect to the first (e.g.. the plmcts in the sun's field) would be bent (refracted) at the boundary. Not so, he a n w c r s for in the Galilean v k ~ o c iat d~dition, at least one of the media must by definition bc trci~tcd
as anisotropic, and everything, including aberration, works out t&actly as obscrvcd.
H.C. Hayden: A Possible Eqlanation oftlre Edwards Effect
A 1976 paper in the PhysicalReview showed that, inexplicably by any convcntional theory, a potential proportional to the square of the current appcarcd on the surface of a superconducting wire. However, if the velocity implied by the Maxwell
equations is not that with r a p e d to the observer, but with rcspect to the licld J
transversed by a moving charge, the explanation is simple and accurate.
T.G. Barnes, EG. SIusher: Space Medium T l ~ o raypplied toLltntrr and StellarAberration
- If there is a medium surrounding each heavenly body with respect to which tlie
velocity of light is constant, can lunar and stellar aberration be explained? Vcry J easily.
J.P. Claybourne:A NewAnalysk of T h eDilation
T i e dilation as appearing in,experiments with muons, clocks transprtcd round the globe, and satellitem&su~ementsare explicable by the Lorcntz approach to tin~c dilation without requiring-theEinsteinian constant velocity of light.

RL Carroll: TheNature of Space

What is space? Not a mathematical infinite emptiness, but something whcrc the

four-dimensional wave equation is valid due to the presence of matter. This lcads to

P. k k m a n n : TheDouble Slit Paradox
Unlike a wave, a particle does not split into parts, attracts and repels other particles, and does not suffer natural attenuation by dispersion. Yet theDuality Principle papers over these differences and makes a particle interfere with itself. ?here is a

a p o t e n t i a l i n of a rapidly converging power series in fir. Its analysis lcads to force functions with velocities determined by the local field surrounding mattcr, and not by any observers
P.Beckmann: Electron Chters

simpler and more rational way to explain what goes on in electron diffraction -and

A cluster of '01 electrons in a sphere with a 1micron radius? By convcntionnl

it needs no new hypotheses

theories, Coulomb's repulsion would explode it. Yet for a decade a Texas rcscarch

RL. Carroll: TJERole of Inertial Force in Energy Exchanges
Where did the potential energy of one body in the field of another come from? ' What happens to that energy when an attracted body is released and then stopped?

company has been producing such clusters and using them in applications. The same electron oscillations, derived fiom the Maxwell equations that explain the double slit paradox and refute the Einsteinian version of the Relativity Principle provide ~ h c force that will, under the conditions met here, overpower the Coulomb repulsion.

H.C. Hayden: fiperimemun Crucis
No one has ever shown the velocity of light east and west on the rotating earth to be constant. Available evidence strongly suggests that it is not. A crucial experiment on the point is now in progress. Can you predict its outcome?
% (H.C. Hayden: Ligh speed as afirnctwn ofgravitationalpotential In a 1987 book, Beckmann proposed that the velocity of light is constant with respect to a constant gravitational field through which it propagates. Using no more

H.E. Wilhelrn: Galilei-CovariantField Equations
Nobody denies that the Maxwell equations are Lorentz-covariant. But if the cifect-producing velocity of charges is the one with respect to the traversed ficld, this covariance becomes an irrelevant curiosity. Alternatively, as physicist I-I.E. Wilhelm, Professor of Materials Science at the University of Utah, shows here, thc Max-
well Equations can be generalized so as to contain an explicit velocity w of an inertial Game with respect to a substratum; and for w-0 this systcm reduces to thc

than the conservation of energy and Ferrnat's principle, Prof. Hayden derives the ordinary Maxwell equations.

or- verified formula for the bending of light.rays in the gravitational field of the sun.
P. I3eckmann: Liglzr Path in a GravitationalField by~ a y d e n ' s

D.L. Bergman, J.P. Wesley: Spinning Charged Ring Model 01
Electron Y ~ l d i nAgnomalous Magnetic Moment

mrln and Fermat's Principle

"The structure of the electron is still a mystery," says an article on atomic struc-

/ Mathematical purists might object that Hayden's derivation above takes a limit- ture and spectra in the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
ing approximation before integration. But an exact formula can be derived by varia- (1982). k there a model that will explain the electron's mass, charge, spin and mag-

tional principles fiom the Euler-Lagrange equation.

netic moment, including anomalous moment? Yes,there is, says this papcr.

J.P. Claybourne: ExperimentalData and Simultaneity
Events taking place simultaneously in one inertial frame cannot be simultaneous in another, and the time of an event in another inertial Game depends on the observer's coordinates, says Einstein. But that's not what the measurements by satellite clocks say.
W.LShirnmin:An Overlay of Fieldlets
Consider the magnetic field of a moving particle and its force on another moving particle. Add all the fields of such individual "fieldlets" in a large mass of particles and the resulting macrofield is the standard with respect to which the velocity of light is constant.
FJ. Miiller: Unipolar Indltction Experiments and Relativirti. Elcctrociynnmics
l%e result is the same whether you move the magnet or the wire, a i d Einstein in his classic 1905 paper. But Faraday in 1831 was the first of many to show the unipolar effect: a cylindrical magnet rotated about its long axis will not induce a voltage in a circular disk with the same axis; yet when the disk is rotated, a voltage appears The Einsteinian explanation seeks refuge in the rota~ionaal nd therefore accclerated motion of [he disk or magnet. But the experiments with a translational, uniform velocity of the magnet reported here destroy that defense.

H.C. Hayden, C.K. Whitney: If Michelson-Morlcy, Why not Sagnac and MkItelson Gale?
Quite possibly you have not heard of the most grandiose optical experiment on the speed of light: the 2,000,000 sq.Et. interference loop set up by Michelson and
- Gale in Illinois in the winter of 1923-24. Why not? Because it is rarely mentioned in
physics books presumably because Michelson explained it in two lines of highschool algebra, whereas today's orthodoxy needs General Relativity to explain thc
c/ result. According to GRT, the shift (yes, there was one) is proportional to the area ... enclosed by the interference loop, which is zero in Michelson-Morlcy. But is it? Ln-
cally, yes. But when you consider all of the earth's orbit round the sun this papcr reveals unsuspected contradictions.
D.H. Deutsch: Reinterpreting Planck's Constant
Toe dimension of Planck's constant are those of action, and the Principle of Least Action istoneof the backbones of modern physics. But how sturdy is this backbone? The dimensions are also those of angular momentum; and many dificulties disappear while new possibilities open up when this principle is rcplaccd by thc conservation of angular momentum.

I Volume 2 (1991):

D.F. Roscoe: A geometric representcrtionof inertialprocess
There is more than simply a definition to the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass. This mathematically sophisticated paper argues that gravilation is a par-
ticular case of inertia.

1'. Graneau: Estimating the strength of water arc explosions

There is no longitudinal magnetic force on in the direction of a cuneni(charge

vclocity) says the Lorentz force. A number of experiments, including water arc ex-

p l ~ s i o n s , ~ soytherwise. , , +- - .:

-.,- - .

R . L Carroll: Superconductivity and electron viscosity *

Applying quantum theof to fluid mechanics, this paper shows that under certain circumstances electron pairing and high currents in filaments should occur; bismuth at room temperatures cannot be far h m superconductivity.

D.M. Drury: Aberratwn and the electricforce on a moving charge.
Ihe non-relativistic electric force on a moving charge predicted by the Beckmanu theory lcads to an additional, aberrant component of the Lorentz force, which should bc dctcctable. Experimental verification appears feasible and an experiment is
proposed.

RJ. Heaston: Einstein's great oversight

In deriving the gravitational fidd equations, their author adopted the dimensional

simplification of setting G = c = 1, which did not lead to erroneous results, but

caused him to miss a superforce and its ten crucial effects.

-

C.K. Whitney: A Gehnkenexperiment with relativisticf ~ f i
The retarded potential of a moving charge leads to effects which are, to say the least, munterintuitive.

D.L. Carroll: E'E toroidal electron

' The model of an electron as a spinning charged- ring is here derived from first

~rinci~les.

-..-

I

&

F.Twiss:~ h a i i i o roix viewing d&nr os~onomicaoi bjecu.

If there was a big bang and the velocity of light cannot be exceeded, how far can

w e see into the universe? Not as far as orthodoxv would have us beiieve.

D.F. Roscoe: Gravitation as an inertial diskrbance 8 .

Continuation of the paper above reveals a deeper significance of gravitational and

inertial mass.

- i

DJ. Savage: The Tau~otential
Proposes a new equation for mass in which motion relative to the locally
dominant gravitationai field determines the changes in mass. The theory results in
some practical, startling predictions of the energies the LEP accelerator, when built,
will be able to handle.

S. Dinowitz: Super-reIativistic dynamics

A new definition of mass is proposed in which motion relative to the locally

I I

1

Volum.e- .3 (1992)

. .

. .

.. .

D- .L- . nergnan: Spinning clmrged-ring model of elementary parlicles
The ?inning charged-ring model hat yields correct characteristics for the
electron m the paper by Wesley and Bergman in vol. 1is equally successful for the
proton, positron, and antiproton.

F. Winterberg: Wheeler's geometrodynumics and tlre zero point vacuum energy
Wheeler's claim that the zero point vacuum energy of quantum gravity of a certain density can be compensated by negative gravitational energy in-between Planck

13.1. Peshchevitskiy: The Lorentz transformation and its reference length fluctuations is shown untenable.

frames

Xu Shaozhi and Zu Xiangqun: A reexamination of tlze Lorentz

- The Lorentz transformation describes reference frames in which the time coor-
dinate is decreed by convenience, not derived as a property of nature a fact confirmed experimentally by synchronization satellites. -

Transformation
Using a generalized transformation of which the LT is a special case, t h a~uthors
found contradictions in the latter. However,. discussion in the Correspondence

J.C. Cur& Theperihelic rotation of Mercury by Newton's original column showed the argument to be flawed.

rnetlrad

P. Beckmann: Sagnuc and gravitation

In the Principia, Newton found that the line oEapsides of the planets must rotate,

Contrary to the claims of some opponents of relativity, the GTR explanation of

but due to his use of the geometric method, this has long remained unknown. Using the Sagnac effect is logically clean, even though it is cumbersome and complicated

his method with contemporary mathematic~the result is slightly better than compared with classical physics.

Gerbcr's (who preceded Einstein with the same formula by 17years).

C.M. Ha: MnrweN's equations in moving cwrtdinates

L A . Pobedonostsev, P.F. Parshin: Experimental investigationof a For the propagation of an electromagnetic wave through free space, Maxwell's

relativistic effect

equations are applicable only if the wave velocity is constant. This constraint is

The transversal Doppler effect is investigated by direct measurement of high- removed here.

vclocity hydrogen ions at 77' and 257'. It was discovered that residual gases and oil vapors in the operating space and the resulting averaging over velocities throws doubt on the interpretation of the Ives- Stilwell experiment and its modem repetitions
T.G. Barnes: Resonance opticsfor detection of rotation and translation
A proposal for a laser speedometer that can be used to test the STR.

H.C. Hayden: Distinctions between Galilean and Einsteinian physics
There are plenty of such distinctions, but not a single one that has been flawlessly resolved by a crucial experiment.
HX. Wibelm: The dielectric Cherenkov effect
A new interpretation is given to the Cherenkov effect by means of the Galileicovariant Maxwell equations.

H.C.
me&.

Hayden:

On

a

recent misinterpretation
.. .

o. f

Sagnac'-s.. e...x. p.e. ri-

A recent paper invoking Sagnac's experiment as a proof of the GTR is shown to

be both historically and physically untenable. Its classical explanation is both simpler

and more general.

LA. Pobedonostsev: Experimental investigation of the Doppler ef fect
Further measurements of the experiment reported in vol. 2 under changed conditions are reported. Th eresult is the same as before: the "transversal Doppler effect"
is due to non- uniform velocitites of the ion sources; there is no such effcct inherent

H.C. Hayden: Yes, moving clocks run slowly, birr is time dilated?

in the light wave motion.

The difference lies in the symmetry. According to Einstein, two observers, each T. Chang: Imaginary cluzrge and gravitational- electric space

in a different inertial frame, each see the clock of the other ~ n n i n gslow. But if the

Great simplification can be achieved by regarding gravitational mass as imagi-

slowing is caused by motion through the gravitational field, all observers wr the nary electric charge.

same moving clock running more slowly than the one stationary in the field. The . evidence gives more support to the second alternative.

J.W. and J.F. McAlister:A meclzanical test of the equivalenceprin-

I

C.I. Moanu: Theparadox of Tlromos rotation
When the Lorentz transformation is used in 3 space dimensions (instead of the "for simplicity" single space coordinate), the relativistic composition of two general velocities fails to satisfy the commutative law. This was patched up in the 1920s by
Thomas rotation. That may cure the kinematics, says this paper, but the electromag-

cipk
An experimental report on an oscillator that does not run in the same way when activated by gravity and an equivalent force in the horizontal plane. No explanation
wa offered, an none of the numerous tries in the correspondence columns has been successful.

nelic equations go bust. .

D.M. Drury: Lorend's GaliIei-invariantform of M m e l l ' s equa-

E. Eitelberg: W u t ir tl~aemorrnt of matter?
'Ihe E=mc can be derived in a variety of classical ways, but what is it that cor-
responds to the quantity of matter? At first sight, the sum of neutral (gravitational)

tions in Fee space
A charge in an electromagnetic field is subject to the Lorentz force which can be made Galilei-invariant.

and electromagnetic mass, but there are difficulties.

T.E. Phipps, Jr.: Polier'sprinciple: a tropfor unwary etizerkfsand

E.1. Peshchevitskiy: 2 7 i~nvarinnceof discrete corrnts

otlrers

The least one can ask of a self-consistent theory is that the discrete number of

Potier's principle, enunciated in 1874, makes it impossible to test the spccd o I

cvcnts counted in one inertial frame agrees with those counted in any other. The SRT light expressed as the sum of c and the xalar product of the propagation vector and

docs not fulfill that condition.

some oonvective velocity.

.G. Vaiverde: Gracitatwnal recislzift revisted
It is sugegsted that the gravitational redshift occurs not on the trip of light from source to destination, but during the emission of the photon at the energy level affected by the gravitational field.
P. Graneau: heavy-water-arcgun for impactfir(;ion
Considers the possibility of D-D nuclear fusion by using the impact of heavt water droplets fired Gom water-arc guns.
E.T. Shtyrkov: CosmologicalRedship and lig/gvelochy in vacuum
The redshift nee$ not be a Doppler effect, but may be due to a very sligh! Z!!P,EEZtion term in the wave equation, thus taking care of Oort's paradox, too.
SA. Tolchelnikova:A new way to hennine tlz velocity of thesolar system
If the speed of light depends on the motion of the solar system, then it can be uncovered by careful observation of the satellites of the planets in the solar system.
H.C. Hayden: WasEdward contradicted experimentally?
The Edwards effect (vo1.l) is one of the items of experimental evidence supporting the Bcckrnann theory and contradicting the SRT. An experiment allegedly contradicting the effect is here refuted.
D.T. MacRoberts: The "Time Dilation" of mesons re-esamined
The meson-halflife experiments need not be attributed to time dilation, but can at /least as well be accounted for by their motion through an ether entrained with the
earth.
S. Bertram: Faraday's andAmpdre1sLaws
Two potentials associated with a moving charge are derived; when the charges are moving, they propagate with thevelocity of light relative to a stationary point,

C.K. Whitney:W m t's wrong wuii stnndnrd relatiristicfields?
A further analysis of the LiCnard-Wiechert formulation of the ficld of a moving
charge leads to contradictions with SRT.
AKT.Assis: On t l m~ecl~anisrnofmil guns
Not electromagneticmomentum, but the Amptre force is what propcls the n~issilc fired from a rail gun.
B.I. Peshchevitskiy:Relativity theory=alternnfiveorfinsco ? The SRT introduces a hidden third postulate: that of local time in the refcrcncc
frame. Tie a!!ma!ive !o the Lorsntz !rznsforma!ion is 301the rJa!i!ear. !:ar,sfs:mation, but a transformation between unequally privileged frames. .
F.M. Kanarev: T h role ofspace and time in scientr'j7cperceptionof
-the world A theorem on teh unity of space and time is derived which shows that n z Euclidean space must lead to physically untenable results.
T. Chang:Multkle concepfi ofth e inflot and cruvfd space
Einstein's definition of time is not the only one in flat space. Multiple conccprs of time and the relations between them are discussed.
RL.Carroll: 2 7 n~ature of time
It is shown from the conservation of energy and other fundamental laws that thcre is no validity in time dilation, but there is a reduction of the internal emergy of an accelerated object, and hence the slowing of periodic processes.
H.C. Hayden: Rotating Mossba~rerexperiments and tile speed of light
Far from confirming relativity theory, Champeney- type experiments support classical theory. '

But the articles are not all!
There are also book reviews of non-orthodox books. There is "Dissident News" about the rebels, their works, and their conferences.
And above all, there is correspondence. Not about the trivialities that leave everybody
cold and whose punchline is "This work was supportedby a NSF grant no ...,"but letters
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L

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A NOTE ON THE SPEED OF LIGHT
S. C. Kak Department of E l e c t r i c a l & Computer Engineering
Louisiana S t a t e University Baton Rouge, LA 70803
- SUMMARY. T2xis note examines the hyyothesis t h a t the speed of l i g h t de-
peads on the strength of the gravitational f i e l d : the weaker the field, the greater the speed. It i s argued t h a t no evidence e x i s t s which would prompt * one t o dismiss t h i s hypothesis out of hand. An experiment i s
L
proposed that would check the v a l i d i t g of the hypothesis.

INTRODUCTION
None of the experiments that have been carried out t o determine a precise value for the speed of e.m. waves have ever asked the question whether the speed was a function of the strength of gravitation. In a l l these experiments(l) the gravitational f i e l d has been more or l e s s uni f orm. Radar ranging experiments that have been performed t o check the so-called fourth t e s t of the general theory of r e l a t i v i t y have indeed shown t h a t a delay i s introduced in the return time of radar echoes when the e.m. waves pass close t o a massive body but t h i s has been interpreted t o be a result of the warping of spacetime. m i s warping i s not taken t o cause any change in the speed of l i g h t because one assumes t h a t -
, clocks slow down i n a gravitating f i e l d . , .
There exist several puzzling aspects--of the standard picture of matter and motion, i.e. gravitation. For example, the theory of relat i v i t y was supposed t o have banished absolute space, yet astronomers can now taUc of the absolute speeds of the earth and the sun through the background microwave radiation. The speed of l i g h t is the upper limit of motion according t o the r e l a t i v i t y principle, yet for black holes inside the event horizon space flows f a s t e r than the speed of l i g h t . ( 2 ) To an obSect that has just entered a black hole, the radiation from the
6
r e s t of the universe gets extremely blue-shifted. The events Fn the outside world appear speeded up and i n f a c t the e n t i r e future of the universe flashes 'instantaneously. Does t h i s mean that objects do not actually reach the singularity once they have crossed the event horizon? Also i f black holes were sufficiently numerous then the rays from t h e s t a r s should get blanked occasionally in our observations. Yet t h i s

does not appear t o happen. There i s a l s o the problem of accepting sing u l a r i t i e s in a s c i e n t i f i c framework, especially when it violates conservation laws, as black holes do.
Can we say t h a t we do not how how gravity works when distances become very small as would be t r u e f o r compressed matter? Is it then t h a t the scenarios being analyzed are contrived and pure speculations? Perhaps, what w e need are more signposts, by w a y of experimental data, t o be able t o find our way. This note is an attempt a t generating evidence t h a t could become one such signpost.

In view of the difficulties outlined above, we believe there e x i s t s
a case f o r performing experiments on the measurement of speed of l i g h t in g r a v i t a t i o n a l f i e l d s of different strengths. In p a r t i c u l a r , we would l i k e t h e following hypothesis t o be checked: the speed of l i g h t in vacuum depends on the strength of the gravitational f i e l d ; t h e speed is lower in stronger fields.
Note t h a t t h i s hy-pothesis i s not a t variance with t h e special theory of r e l a t i v i t y , which does not consider p a v i t a t i o n a t a l l . Furthermore, previous experiments on speed of l i g h t could not be used t o shed any l i g h t on the hypothesis, since these experiments were not designed t o look f o r changes in the speed of light.. , ,
Clearly the implications of such a hypothesis, i f proved correct, would be considerable. The time delay of radar echoes i s consistent with t h e hgpothesis. Without the necessity of the apparatus of the gene r a l theory one could conceivably explain the correct value of the bending of s t a r l i g h t by the sun, as well as the other e f f e c t s t h a t a r e taken as evidence favoring Einsteinrs general theory.
Such a hypothesis would help avoid the d i f f i c u l t y of space collapsing with a speed greater than the speed of l i g h t within a black hole as
1
well as other d i f f i c u l t i e s in the study of s i n g u l a r i t i e s . It also provides a bridge t h a t may be useful t o bring g r a v i t a t i o n within the unification framework ' t h a t has been successful in incorporating the other forces.

A PROPOSAL FOR AN EXPERIMENT
-Whether our hypothesis should be given any consideration would be c l e a r i f the following experiment i s performed. An experimental s e t up is designed t o measure the speed of l i g h t , and then it i s transported t o a s a t e l l i t e or a high a l t i t u d e a i r c r a f t where the measurement i s repeated. It would be helpful if the s a t e l l i t e or the a i r c r a f t were geostationary when the experiment was performed, so t h a t the issue of clocks running a t different rates f o r the two locations of the experiment could be eliminated. In a certain sense the experiment would determine the e f f e c t of gravity on t h e . r a t e of clocks.
Another experiment t h a t can-beperformed t e r r e s t r i a l l y i s where t h e . . .
delay in propagation between two phases - o& .a , l a s e r bean is compared.
One phase i s an arm p a r a l l e l t o the earth -and the other phase i s an arm v e r t i c a l t o the earth. If the a m are switched and the phase d i f f e r ence changes, t h a t could be interpreted t o imply different propagation , speeds.

NOTES
(1) C. W. Misner, K. S. Thorne, J. A. Wheeler: Gravitation (S. Francisco, 19731.
( 2 ) S. W. Hawking, G. F. R. Ellis: The Large Scale Structure of Space-
- time (Cambridge University Press, 1973).

ACCESS TO

A PrcbScience, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter

August 1993 (Vol. 20, no. 12)

Box 2298, Boulder, Colorado 80306

Copyright O 1993byAccess to E n e w

r

-

-

--

-

-

Goodbye, dear readers

I wish I knew how to impress it on you so deeply that you will never forget it:It is the torch, not the torchbearer, thatmatters. The torch, the Truth, shines on; the old torchbearer recedes into the darkness.
Let it shine on through the Green stench that is envelopingus ever more closely, let it throw light into the black night of ignorance, let it prevail over the dark forces of tyranny and stupidity. Keep it flying hgh!

Nietzsche's superman, allegedly the ideal Nazi? Nietzsche was one of the most impressive philosophers. He was an internationalist, and his superman was the ideal man. He was Swiss, but if there is one nation for which he felt an ill-disguised con-
tempt and disgust, it was the Germans, whom he despised for their slavish obedience to authority. Some Nazi!
The search for truth begins at the sources. Truth is what
agrees with experience after all possible alternatives have

I would nevertheless like to muse a little over the 20 years of clashed and have been shown unviable. Access to Energy. I feel satisfactionfor having kept my promise of So what was the sense in f+ting the charlatansfor 20 years, never accepting any grants, contributions, or anything else but they talking to 50 million for hours every night, I talking to 6,000

subscriptions. If I am not good enough, I said in vol. 1no. 1, let on 4 pages once a month? The demon inside me just said "Don't me go under. Free marketeers don't panhandle. If the amount let them get away with it." But after 20 years it suddenly had an was small,I would tag it onto the subscription.If it was large,as it answer for me. "Do not count the heads; weigh them!'' The

was in several offers, I would reject it outright. Clean independence is worth more than money, and it provides a check on how good you are.
In the newsletter world any renewal rate over 50% is considered excellent. Many newsletters have a renewal rate close to zero. They spend their budget on advertising and sell it to a different set of subscribers every year. For the last 8 years or so, Access to Energy did not spend a solitary cent on advertising.The renewal rate very rarely dropped below 80% and usually stayed

birdbrains who listen to mental cripples like Tom Brokaw & Co, taking a swig from their six packs whenever the lies are inter-
rupted by the incredibly stupid melange of foods, soaps and chewing gums, have been there during all the ages. They are the cowards, and slavish parrots only a little more stupid than Brokaw and the other charlatans themselves. Theywill never do anything except in a crowd with a mob mentality. But also throughout the ages there were others, the ones who knew better: the mathematicians behind thick cloister walls, the Great

above 90%. New subscriptions made up for the dropouts, and Navigators, all those who brought about the Renaissance and

for the last 8years or so the circulation held steady.

raised the shining torch of truth. The riff-raff of dim-witted par-

Why? In part, because I did not play by the rules. Every rots would sometimes lynch them, but they could not extinguish

newsletter manual will tell you to "conceal your sources." You the torch.

know that I carefully documented every single source.

Keep the torch of truth shiningbrrght and high!

To get at the truth, it iswell to go to the originalsources. What Dear readers, I would like to take leave of you with the words do Dan Quayle, Niccolo Machiavelli and Friedrich Nietzsche of a great Czech, Jan Hus, a religious reformer 100years before have in common? A reputation ruined by night club comics and Luther. He voluntarily went to defend his views before the Ec-

half-learned dimwits. Quayle, presented as an infantile bungler, clesiastic Council in Constance (on the border of Germany and

was in fact the only strong anchor in a weak, unprincipled and Switzerland),but the Council condemned him as an heretic and hollow administration. Machiavellian means cynical, dishonest, he was burned at the stake on 6th July 1415.In his last letter from

scheming, surreptitious, conspiratorial. But Machiavelli's 7he his dungeon in Constance sent to his people ("via a good
Prince (1527)is none of these; it is a sober assessmentof the ccn- German") he wrote: "Love the huth and be generous in letting
..te.m..p.o.r.a.ry..sy.s.t.em..s.o.f.g.o.v.e.r.n.m.e.n.t.a.n.d..a.p.l.e.a.t.o.u.r.ll.fy..I.ta.l.y..A..n.d...e.v.e.r.yb.o.d.y.b.e.n.e.f.it.f.ro.m..t.h.e.tr.u.th.!."............................

...............S.T.A..X.5..O.F...T.H..E.E..D.I.T.O..R...........................A..L..I.T.Z..E..P.H..I.L.O..S.O.P.H..Y..O.F..S.C..I.E.N.C..E.........

The last issue was written under great difliculties. Little did I As indicated last time, Dr Howard C. Hayden, professor of know that rrght afterwards I would have to be admitted to hospital physics at the U. of Connecticut, has convincingly shown that

for yet another operation, kidney, blocked ureter, disgusting

things. More weight loss, blood loss, now I can lift a Kleenex, but

not much more. An internist and a urologist separately told me I

was dying of cancer, but I have reason to hope that they may be

wrong

. -

- -

. ,

However, there was not a whiE of a chance in this past month,

the most horrible of my life, in following the news, let alone clip

ping items for this issue. So I will make a virtue of necessity and

Einstein's theory of relativity leads to results contradicted by ex-

periment.

IC.,

.

Those are fighting words, and we will fust go through some

points that are not too clear to many laymen, a n 4 alas, to many

scientists. All physical theories must ultimately be anchored in ex-

periment. It is their job to explain the available evidence as simply

as possible.

.- .

. . _ - j

-- - . . 7 >..

, ..-I :;l:h'@~ f T b S fI,.,

this: The main point-is When you test a theory by experiment,

celebrate the last issue under my editorship by writing about science, but not about energy. I am G t i n g this on the loafer's schedule: a paragraph or two of writing 2 hours of recuperation stupor. Perhaps I can make it in time even though IwiU not be able to print it myself. But then I had a blood preassure collapse, back

one thousand experimentswill not proveit, but a single experiq?ent will refute it. The reason is that the 5000 experimentsmaybe con- ' sistent with the theory, do what the theory predicted, suppox%th6 theory, etc., but that is no proof that the investigated theory is the ;
only one that does so. To the contrary, ifthe experimentshows the

to the hospital, More time l o s t more strength lost. Please bear

with me.

-- A ----

...

-.

theory is wrong, there is no more to argue about (or ought not to

be); the theory is dead

- -. - - - . - ---- .Y-..--=~yh- *x~,3~X- w Y.F-*.5L~ Lr-l& Yir4----

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T iand again it has happened that the correct predictions of

{ C , : - ~ a theory were so spedaah that saentjsts were lulled into com-
~~ phcency and ampted it as holy, only to find that the holy theory like any other that holds its own for a time. I have earlier

givcn the example of the caloricurn theory.

The fad that this progression toward more and more accurate

uluh takes plaa so slowly and by hairline breadths shows that we

are on the right path. It is not that what we thought was a monkey

h l m d out t~ ?xa ahhoceros, but that when wt: th01~1ghtthe

monkey bad 300,008hairs, it proved to have 300,009.

Now this goes for all theories, but there is something additional

that goes for the theory of relativity. A law like that of the conser-

vation of energy, which rests on experiment like any other, has

been demonstrated in thermodynamiq mechanics, optics, acous-

tics,wave propagation, atomistics, nucleonics, and even further did not do them much good, because there was no way to measure

removed subjects like chemistry and biology.

it directly. Indeed, what would they compare the aberration to?

The spectacular successes and predictions of the theory of There are no "non-aberrant" stars. What you see is what you get,

relativity have been very numerous; but over what breadth? The and you do not know where the real source of light is. So what has

slowing of procwes in moving systems (allegedly due to "time been done since the 18th century (actually since 1690 by the great

dilation") and elementary particle physics, plus a few, often dis- Danish astronomer Roemer) was to measure the angIe of passage

puted, scraps here and there. There has not, in the past, been a of a star through the meridian in summer and winter, when the or-

case of applying the theory to well defined macroscopic bodies bital velocity of the Earth (30 W s ) was reversed and take the dif-

with well defined velocities. Such a case has now been found and ference. The velocity of the star canceled out and left the result

the Theory of Relativity has fallen flat on its face, as I will try to

(2vordc)sina

explain in a moment.

which agreed nicely with experiment.

....................*....@.....@.~....... None of us islikelytoknowmore aboutelectromagneticsthan
Berkeley physics professor W. Jackson. Yet he has been lulled into
the false belief that the Theory of Relativity is "proven" by experiments. You may not ever know as much electromagnetics as he does, but if you have understood what I had to say above, you are a

But then came Einstein who said there is no ether, only moving systems (star at rest in one, Earth in the other) and relative velocity. He got the same formulas except that the v was the relative velocity of star and Earth. And that is where he was wrong.

fundamentallybetter scientist than he is.

....m...a..

.mma@mamaaaomaa@ammamaaam.aammoaaaa

DOUBLE S T m AND THE MISSING EtlDENCE

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Ob@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

A SWAN AND A STAR

There are no "fixed" stars. They all have their velocities, but

Consider a great big pool of water with no wind to make waves. they are so far away they appear fured in the same place. In any

S is the swan Sylvester swintming for his pleasure and m a w case, as far as we are concerned,their velocity is constant, so that

waves on the water.E is the shpEbenezer steamingwith velocityv on subtracting the summer from the winter aberration it will just

(with respect to the water) commanded by Captain Ezekiel The cancel out.

Captain can't see the swan because it is too far away, but he can But about half the stars in the sky, it is estimated, are double

measure where the waves are coming from. If he does so with stars or binaries, with two stars orbiting a common center of mass.

respect to his own boat, clearly the velocity of the boat will cause These stars do not, of course, have a constant velocity, and if

them to arrive at a tilted angle because the boat is driving into the Einstein were right, the relative velocity of each star and Earth

waves, just as if they had come not from S,but from S*.The dif- would not cancel out duringhalf a terrestrial year; a periodic com-

ferencein directionbetween the true position ofSand the seeming ponent (period of the binary) would appear even in the instan-

@tion S*is called the aberration (angle) e of S.

taneous aberration. To make the effect observable, one must

For swans and ships Einstein and everybody else is agreed on choose a binary with a very short period, comparable to the

how to calculate the aberration E. But now let S represent a star Earth's (one year). That means the two stars must be very close

andE the Earth.Then the old classics, who believed in an ether together, and that in turn means giant telescopeswith a sufficiently

QTklight not very di£Ferentlyfrom water carrying waveg calcu- strong resolving power. Such telescopes came into existence at a

.-

1

k

t

t

w

aberration d o u ttobe

the

same way. .,, - ,

vT-h:,,is.-"in-sta-,n.,.t..a- .ne-ous."-

aberra-
. --, .

time when the Einstein theory was already well enthroned and explains why such investigations were not carried out earlier.

. -

c

E = (v/c)sina .

. .

,, .

the velocity of light andand if sina real& intinidatesYOU.,

--Inany would be

case, if Einstein were right, the increased aberration at least 20 times larger than the resolving power of

. - &msc a

wit a =900 and s&,

wiu &,appear. In any case, it
. . \

modern telescopes. What is more, by contemporary automated

-r

...................................................@.. .I

of scanoing the sky, such a wildlylarger aberration would

...................................................... registeran"alarm" evenif theywerenotlookedfor.

SO HE WRIi RIGHT AFTER ALL

~ uthtere have been no such "alarms"

anywhereinthe

sky- No periodic componentspredicted by the theory of

Something else momentous happened last month. The earth shook beneath the house of mathematis, which was buning with

have been observed. Einstein was in error. His theory is dead, though it will take
decades to bury it among the grieving hagiographers.

excitement such as it had not seen for - we& for more than 350 years.
After the death of one of the great mathematicians and

m t theory does ex$iin aberration correctly? Mine, for ex-
of Wthaving a coostant velmiy inthe local gravitational
field, but that is not the point here.]

of heearly16th century, pierre de Fermar (iml-i665), a book by the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantos was found among his possessions. The book is a well known treatise on solu-

.......................................*..........~..........~................................~. .........~.. NAILING IT DOWi'?

=tions of equations in whole numbers.

the margin, Fernat had

.no.t? stating a deceptively

There is something that I for one, find somewhat dismal about simple theorem:meequorion

astronomy beyond the solar system, and that is its inability to

s. engage in independent verification We all b o w about the Redwhich is supposed to be the Doppler shift of an expading

u&rse that started h e Big Bang. But here are others who

say it may not be a Doppler shift, and there never was a Big Bang.

It all leaves one with a sense of u@yuncertainty.

But thank
stars does not

the failure of Ekte- aberration in double
to his group.neraere thousands of double

stars to choose from. Many of them can be observed by three dif-

ferent methods: components moving

towardsa~nedcatwroayscfroo~mitchae(ltelh~aerth'p)eacntrda

thoeflatwhes

of -Iestia1

three agree' For

the star f in

the

Sagittarius a

with a period Only 21*14

years. The stars are visible optically, their masses and velocities can

be measured spectroscopically,and the celestial mechanics are in

' 2 +yn = Z"
has no solution in positiveintegerswhenn 2.

"Of this," his note continued, "I have found truly wonderful

proof, which this marginis too smallto contaia-"

For n =1the solution is Pythagorean numbers such

trivial; for n as 3,4,5 (9

+=126,

the solutions are the =25) and for n >2,

said "Fermat's Last Theorem" or "The Great Fermat Theorem"

or "Fermat's marginal note," no solution in positive integers ex-

isted.

Generations of mathematicians became obsessed with the

proof. No one ever found a case proving Fernat wron& but the

proof was lacking. Various academies of Sciences offered prizes, a

Geman noblemanwho had spent his lifevainly

for the

proof, lefthis formteo the firstto prove Fernat's Last Theorem.

bBeulitenvoentehwataFsefronrathtcnoemvieorghaanddagvraaldiduaplrloyomf,athematicians began to

agreemen4 too. If aberration were dependent on the relarive

of star and Earth,the aberration

be

20 times

greater than measured, and could not escape detection even if it

was not looked for,

No Big Bang uncertainties here. No out for Einstein.

.............................................................~......~..............~........~....~.......... .. .. CHECKINGITOUT

Last month an Englishman working at Princeto%

Wdes, provided it. It is enormously long and needs many years of

trw in a special of

but the wonderful thing

about it is that he did it (unlike the "proof' of the four-color

theorem) without the brute force of a computer.

There is still room for human ingenuity in a world where it is

~ ~ i d e r kenodwledge h o w which button press 0. corn-

The adviceI usually give forchecking out my statemen@name- puter and where "to create" is used for "to create a file."

ly to confront my opponentswith them, is useless here.

As a physicist, Fermat was mainly known for discovery of

Not to mention the difficulties with which this whole discussion Fermat's principle, according to which a ray of light will always

begao, they wfl ridicule and m~ you. The more btelligent propagate in such a way as to get &omone point to another in the

among them

out that the great majority of anti- shortest possible time. The laws of reflection and refiaction are

Eiasteinians are crackpots and nuts (true); that there have been special cases of this principle*

...................................................... many previous claims of refuting Einstein experimentally before .......~e~..aa*.a.e~.~~~~~.~..~.~~~~..~..~~~~~.~...~~~

(true again); but that all such attempts turned out to be flawed

ERROR-CORRECTTNG CODES

(and true for the third time).

So how do you check things out?

So what's there left to write about for an editor who has been

BYl o o k h at Einstein's

classical 1905 paper "On the hanging around hospitals instead of doing his homework?

electrodynamics of moving bodies." Here he makes two bizarre codes andlanguages.

postulates, derives the relation between quantitiesin two uniform- S ~ P PI ~am using binary code (all zeros and ones) in groups

ly movingsystem (the Lorentztransformation), and in Set7 deals of three: 001010,011,011,100, etc What message this might code

with aberration and the relativistic Doppler effed in one swoop. is of no interest here. In a perfed world, the groups would all ar-

Check out my story by asking the Einsteinians:

rive the way they were sent. In reality, channel noise will distort

Did Einstein (and thousands since) misapply the theory of SOme of the 1sillto OS and Some of the OS into b.TOprotect myself

relativity in deriving aberration in Sec. 7?

against this, I will count the number of 1s in a group of infomation

ne a If so,is the relativisticDoppler effect also wrong?

digits and add a check drgit by the following arbitrary rule: if the

emDafoiCn'StofleEt tihnesmteinbieafnudadbleeTpTuatwiOitahnret&faiarnbsdimp~ploe.sRoJpthheir

mathnose

number of k even, 1add another 1 a check @t, otherwise I add a 0.Thus (the hyphen is not transmitted, just insertedhere for

'

init. Thenshow that theyyield a result contradictedby experiment. clarity) my @ouPsbecome 001-0,0100,011-1, loo-%etc*

You might point the

scope of b e Theov of ' If now the receiver gets a group 011-0, he does not know what

weu - Relativity. It differs from classical physics exdusively in the cases went wrong, but he knows that something went wrong, for such a

where the velocities of matter arecommesuratewith the velocity of BouP does not k t - He can request that the @ouP be repeated,

ligbk That is foi

astronomy

defied maampic

in atrono.m- y,
~ies.-:--~~

~~d ~b<

only ~ ,2,-2 c

al
;* ,

l

of which can, The example

of course, be easily automated. :.-.+:.:.*E$?>EZ;? above is thatbf an errordtecting code. Bj; id&-

-
'

HaydenYspaper wiJlbe published in he skptjob;issud of m+e check dig'&per information digif the receiver can be told

GalileM Elemdynamics ne* month*~f I live long enou&, I will wbch of the digits is wrong. T h i ~is an errorxomcti.ngcode. ........

publish all of volume 4 (l993)as a paperback. Please do NOT buy There are thousands error

codes around, not

it unlessyou are t h o r o w fdwa ithr allaspectsof elechomag- "marily for binary codes- For example, l.harians are fond of

netics at the graduate leveL
- --

reversing the order of digits in a book number, so the Libraryof

+ -

- -

- -

.- . < - r I r

_ ---.----.x -. ---------.s-_: _- ------..-."-----,

,
-

,

-

.

--

-

-

-bngressnumbers protect the number against that kind of distor-

, tion;

.

=

Then come the real insights that you do not find in the grammar books. For example, English grammar says that all parts of the

AU of these methods have certain traits in common:

body must be attnibuted to their owners whenever possible. A real

The message or number contains the actual infonnanbn stupid rule, students of English think It leads to absurdities like

digits to be transmitted;

"She shruggedher shoulders." In all other languagesI know of you

a rather arbitrary and artScial criterion is set up (such as say "She shrugged the shoulders," because to all but mad dogs and

whether the number of ls is even);

Englishmen it is pretty clear whose shoulders she probably

depending on the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the shrugged.

criterion, check digits are added to the infomation digits toprotect But look at language as an error w_rf.p_~&heg, m d the rde is

themfrom disroItr*on.

not stupid at all. The possessive adjective is, in fact, a very good

............................................................................................................ THE SCHOOL,A SCHOOL,SCHOOL.

and necessary check morpheme in English and in English only. In no language that I know of other than English can you simply

In 1971 or so I made the not unimportant discovery that natural languages are structured like error correcting codes.
I was well prepared for the subject. I had learned English in England during WWII by listening to it just like you did in America. Then I worked my way through college by teaching Enghsh in a language school. The students (Czechs) would say "I
have been in Prague yesterday7and "I go to the school to learn English." When I corrected them, they would ask "why?" and I would have no better answer than 'Well that's the way you say it." But after class I would sneak to the grammar book and look up the reason. Czech has no articles (nor does any other Slaviclanguage except Bulgarian), and to explain the difference between a school and the school is easy. But how about plain school? Yes, there is a rule, and nobody who has learned the language just by picking it up knows it: the article is omitted when you refer to something as-

take any noun and turn it into a verb without changing it. (Exceptions: gold, to guild, and some others.)
This is especially true of parts of the body. You nose around,
mouth an opinion, foot a bill, head a committee, shoulder a burden, hand me a note, eye a girl, etc., etc. In any other language that
I know of eye, to eye and the adjective (as in eye glasses) all have
distinct forms. What the "her" does is not indicate whose shoulders she
shrugged; it is a check morpheme that says "what follows is a noun."
Here is another insight. It is well known that church, schools, literature and general ''culture" will standardize and therefore brake the development of a language. To the contrary, the illiterate people, when unhampered by such institutions did a marvelousjob
of streamlining the grammar and general structure of their lan-

sociated with the word rather than the word itself. That's why we go to school to learn, to church to pray, to bed to sleep, but the bus stops by a church and the lamp stands by the bed. Beginning to sound like an artificial criterion that is implemented to protect the
message? If not, let me give you more. Czechs think it strange to make a
difference between ' I smoke" and "I am smoking." Americans think it strange that when you do something in the Slavic languages, it is required to state whether the action was completed or
not. A statement consistingonly of informationmorphemes is made
by a child who does not yet speak the language: "Annie want milk." The s of wan& is a check morpheme which is redundant as
shown by the "defective" verbs can, must, mny, ough( might which don't take an s in the third person.
The simple Enghsh skntence "The teacher stands by the blackboard" requires the gender of the teacher to be made known
in French, German, Czech, Russian, and all Slavic languages. This
is not because the scene is one of steamy sex, but another arbitrary
criterion that these languages require to be answered - a check
structure to protect the information. To the contrary, Hungarian has only a sigle word for he, she, it, showing how redundant gender is. (When you hear a foreigner say ''Susan? He just went home," you can bet it is a Htingarian speaking.)
To test my claim, I wrote a computer program containingfewe; than 100 unprocessed @d exchangeable) Enghsh words, from

guage. When Cicero's eloquence stopped begetting elegant Latin

structures and the lights went out in Rome, the common people in

Portugal, Spain, France and Italy threw out the Latin inflections

bag and baggage, though they were most excellent check mor-

phemes. They must have overdone it for soon they would not have
known what k a noun without some help from a ;heck morpheme

of a different kind. That's how the articIe arose in these languages,

all descended from Latin, which had none. Instead of the Latin

viqp, virpnis, vimni, vimnem, simpler mob-lanhage livierge,

etc., & la

the French just view b la vie~

used the el,a vierge,

.fa.r.

Same thing happened in the Slavic languages, which inflect

heavily to this day. (Czech pays the price of having an old literature

by having one more case than Russian.) All except Bulgarian. The

Bulgarians came under Turkish rule for 300 years and emer-ged wit6a simplelanguagewithout inflections and bith articles.

The third case, of course, is English, For one and a half cen-

turies after the Norman Conquest in 1066 the "better" people

spoke French, wMe the illiterate Anglo-Saxon serfs threw out the

inflections (except the "Saxon genitive"), and they made the most

beautiful job of streamlining the grammar of a language. When

Chaucer and other writers began to stir, they emerged with a bas-

tard French-Saxon language that had the simplest grammar (and

the most horrible spelling) in the world

- L.

,

-. . '

These and many other points were made in my book The Sbuc-

turn of Language (1973), now out of print.

which it could make 10 grammatically correct, though of course not always meani- Enghsh sentences. By biasing the path at
randomly thrown switches and loading the dictionary one could get sentences of various complexity and make the program talk, for

Your next issue will be mailed from

-.-. I .

Box 1279,

Cave Junction, OR 97523

- ...
A

example, like a learned lawyer. I also won $1from a local radio - All coaespondenceto the old address in Boulder

station whose announcer said he could read any tongue twister without going wrong. I sent him twopages of computeLgenerated-

L ..- J 7 + +I-.;

, -
.

7: L-.-:
..-

will also be forwarded

'A--
..

; :

to

the

new

Oregon

(unopened)
address. . .

-

.

' .

. +

t<

-
i-

. tongue-twisters.

.......~..........a..... - ,. TO : r -

>

-

. I

'

2

- ,

#.

,bp-',x

<-a*.7..

.

.*- " -1 -

- :. 7
,,..~?,-y-. rr*&++:,pi+b F*. .'A ' *': :--KC ;?"."3:fJ

.aa.m..mmmaamm@m.m..amm.@moma*o@mao

: ....................................................... i - WHOSESHOULDERS DID SHE SHRUG? . '

7'

.--a-

. . -.?ACCESS s ~ - . - :j&_ iw., ...i~ ,-..,.:.Y,,:.&3 !.5, M-1~..- --T"'L L- '.,;:.~= *:.-::-: ,..

.

ENERGY . -.. ~ < j c ~ $ : & $ j ~ ~.,,, ~ ;

--- '~"~ublishearnd editor Dr Petr kkmPamd fess,or Emeritus of Electrical

...........o.......m..a.,.*om@m@@@amm@@m@@mm..@.aoaam.m

En'gineering, University of Colorado.Subscriptions:individuals $25 for12monthly

But a computer is only a tool, in this case proving that the idea issues (Canada $27, wema% by air mail only, $30).Coqmationsdouble, US tax-

was wrrect. (It was also used by a linguist from Ohio to write the subsidized organizations $100. Order from Access to E m , Box 2298, Boulder,

..... - grammars of some Micronesian la-n- gu.ages..),

-- .-.

.' j 7

<;*.i.+ * = > ;

. .*?x,3.:,,

CO , Ind - -

80306.Checks must be
aSept. 1973toAug, 1% - -

in

U$S20$.drawn.o.n.a.US.

-ban I.

k

P--a--s-t-i-s--sc-ur es-$-2---

e.:ac.h...-..C---u.*-.m-..-,-u.-l?.
,-

.

"- ,

Contents - .

. ,-I -.I*.,

_

__

-

A, Horzela,E.Kapuscik.J. Kempeqmki:A non-~in.stei& equivalence

principle . .
S.M.Korotayev:A

....
formal

.......
&finition of

.....
causality

........
and Kbzyrev's

.
m

.
*

.
o

..
m

. .

. .

. .

. .

. .

. 83
.86

H.C.Hayden: Stellar aberratreon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

A Montgomery, L Dolphin:Is thevelocity of light constant in time? . . . . . . -93

AtroCve.nGyu. lk.o,.D..L. ..B.er.g.m.an.:.C.ha.rg.e.d.rin.g.m.o.de.l.of.e.le.m.en.tr.uy.p.ar.ti.cl.es.:a. c.o.n.- . .98

Box 251 Boulder, Colorado 80306
U.S.A.

GALILEAN ELECTRODYNAMICS

Sept./Oct. 1993(VoL 4, no. 5)

Experience, Reason and Simplicity Above Authority

BOX251, Boulder,Colo#do 80306

O 1993by GalileanElectrodynamics

Editorial Board
Thomas G.Barnes, Professor Emeritus of Physics,
Universityof Texas at El Paso
Howard C. Hayden, Professor of Physics,
Universityof Connecticut,S t o m
Pave1Fyedomvich Parshin, Professor and Department Head of Physics,
Academy of Aviation, St. Petersburg,Russia
Cynthia K Whitney, Visiting Industry Professor,
Electro-OpticsTechnology Center, Tufts University,Medford, Mass. and WJ. SchaferAssociates, Inc.
Editor and Publisher
Petr Bechann, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering,
Universityof Colorado,Boulder

Contents
A, Horzela, E.Kapuscik. 3. Kempenynski:A non-Einrteinianequivalence
principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..83 S.M. Korotayev:Aformal definition of causality and Kbzyrev's moms . . . . . . 86 H.C.Hayden:Stellar aberration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 A Montgomery,L. Dolphin:Is the velocityof light coytstant in time? . . . . . . . 93
A C . Gulko, D.L. Bergman: Charged ring model of elementmyparticles:

EDITORIAL POLICY

Galilean Electrodynamics aims to publish high-quality scientific papers based on experimental evidence even if their interpretation of it runs counter to the conventional orthodoxy. In particular, it publishes papers supporting the position that Einstein's interpretation of the Relativity Principle is unnecessarily complicated, has been confirmed only in a narrow sector of physics, leads to logical contradictions, and is unable to derive results that must be postulated, though they are derivable by classical methods.
Though the main purpose of the journal will be publication of logically correct and experimentally supported theories contradicting the Einstein theory, it will, should the occasion arise, publish related, or even unrelated physical topics that rest on logically and experimentallyf i ground in challengingother theories cherished by physics orthodoxy.
Where there is more than one theory contradicting accepted opinion and interpretation, but all of them meet the criteria of
faultless logic, greater simplicity, and absence of experimental
contradiction, none of them shall be favored, except when
Occam's razor yields an overwhelmingverdict.
All papers are reviewed by qualified physicists, astronomers,
mathematicians or engineers. Rejection on the sole grounds that a
submitted paper contradicts accepted opinion and interpretation
will be ignored. The papers in Galilean Electrodynamics are

generally limited to challenging established orthodoxy or Hending

it against such direct or indirect challenges.

No paper contradicting experiment will be accepted; however,

papers making a case why the current interpretation of observed

effects may be erroneouswill be considered for publication.

All papers are expected to be in the realm of physics, mathe-

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will

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Papers reporting experimental results will be given preference

over theoretical papers of equally hrgh standard.

Shorter papers will be preferred over long papers of com-

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over esoteric analyses accessible only to a limited number of

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However, none of these restrictions (other than length and sub-

ject area) apply to book reviews, news items, and readers' letters;

these aresolicited and encouraged to be vividly interesting.

Authors do not have to pay any page charges; but once an

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diskette (see Instruction to Authors overleaf). Papers submitted in

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ternational System (SI), should be used in all papers. For all other points, authors should
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Short., succinct papers stand a better chanceof being accepted,and sometimeseven of gettingpublished earlier.

From the publisher
Experimental refutation of the STR
This is an historicissue: it containsProf. Hayden's simple andunassailable experimental refutation of the STR.
Einstein, in Sec. 7 of his historic 1905paper, and his followers ever since (withunsubstantial vaiatioas), have explained aberration by assuming a star at rest in one inertial frame and the Earth at rest in another. The line joining Earth and Star makes an angle a with the relafive velocity v between the two systems. Treating the relativistic Doppler effect and aberration in one swoop, Einstein gets the (almost) usual formula for aberra-
tion, which for small angles equals c =/3 sina, where /3 = vlc, formally identical with the
old classical expression where v meant velocity of the earth with respect to the ether rather than Einstein's relativevelocitybetween Star and Earth.
This small difference could not be directly probed, for there is nothing to compare aberration directly to. So what was done since the 17th and 18th centuries was to compare the passage of a star with constant velocity through the local meridian at a 6 months' interval.,when the Earth's orbitalvelocityhad changedsign, so that subtraction of the two results for E would give 2(vo&c) sina. This was in agreement with experiment.
But what if the velocity of the star changed during half a terrestrial year from vl to v2?
This is the case for some double stars, with short periods, i-e., so close together that only
modern giant telescopes can resolve them. Then the subtraction yields and additional term sina (vl- v2)lc, a term from 20 to 10,000 times the error of observation But it is absent from all records. With modern methods of scanning the sky, it would appear even if it were not looked for. In some cases the vl and v2 is nailed down triply spectroscopid y , optically, and by celestial mechanics. The Lorentz transformation, even if it were self-consistent (which many doubt), predicts a value that is not confiied experimentally.
The Einsteinians will at first stonewall, then come with all kind of political and philosophical "explanations." Keep them to the point: Did Einstein misapply the Theory of Relativity in Sec. 7 of his 1905 paper? if so, is the relativistic Doppler effect also wrong?
Einstein's Theory of Relativity is dead. The formidable task of thisjournal over the next decades will be to bury it.
P.S. I have entered the last stage of cancer, have had some operations, and am very weak, which willslow down the work of thisjournal considerably.

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co 80306

GALILEAN ELECTRODYNAMICS

Stellar Aberration
. Howard C. Hayden
Professor of Physics, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269
Stellar aberration, discovered three centuries ago, was immediately recognized as a phenomenon due to the velocity of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Einstein explained aberration by using the Lorentz transformations to convert from stellar coordinates to earth coordinates
unequivocally using the relative velocity of Earth and stat, and his explanation remains essentially the same in most textbooks. We show herein, by analyzing data from binary stars, that aberration
is not due to relative velocity of Earth with respect to star, but rather Earth's orbital velocity.

Introduction - Aberration Basics
Stellar aberration was discovered by Bradley [1728], who was attempting to measure parallax for stars, but accidentally discovered that the telescope needs to be tipped slightly "forward," i.e., toward the direction the Earth is then progressing around the Sun.*
The tilt angle is (vorb/c) sin 0 radians for stars located in a direction 8 with the orbital velocity verb. The ratio (vorb/c) is about l o w 4 radians, but exactly 2OU.4955[Illingworth 19851, which for our purposes will be taken as 201'.5. Figure 1 shows a typical textbook drawing of the requisite tilt of the telescope. Implicit in the drawing, typical of all those found in textbooks [Feynman 1963, Kutner 1987, Wallenquist 1966, and Yilmaz 19651 is a "raindrop" model in which the drops passing through the center of the objective can strike the center of the eyepiece of the moving telescope
only if the telescope is tilted in the amount vorb/c . Such
a tilt could be discovered only because the Earth's velocity is continuously changing. The apparent location of a star in the sky thus moves around a small ellipse (a circle for stars on the pole of the ecliptic; a straight line for stars on the ecliptic). In addition, there are minor effects due to the Earth's rotational velocity [Illingworth 19851.
Fig. 1. Typical textbook drawing of the aberration phenomenon. The "raindrop" drawing shows only how a telescope must be tilted, but is not intended as an explanation of the cause.
Stellar Motions
It is necessary to distinguish several real and apparent stellar motions. Aside from line-of-sight velocity that is determined by Doppler shifts, the stellar motions appear as changes in the angle of view. The motion relative to the

Sun's system is called "proper motion," and the (changing) apparent position due t o Earth's position in orbit is called "parallactic motion." In both cases, the motion is determined by observing the star's varying position relative to those of the majority of the stars on the photographic plates taken weeks or months earlier. If the star moves at some velocity v l with respect to the nearby stars, its angular velocity (proper motion) is q5 = vL/c, a value that decreases as the distance to the star increases. Proper and parallactic motion have four things in common that are not shared by aberrational motion: both angular motions decrease with increasing stellar distance from the Earth; both motions are of the subject star with respect t o the majority of the stars in the same (angular) neighborhood (that is, on the same photographic plate); both motions are due to the changing relative position of Earth and star; and both motions are limited to comparatively few stars. Aberration, by contrast, is (A) the same for distant stars (even quasars) as for close ones, (B) angular motion with respect to reference stars far (in the angular sense) from the stars under observation, (C) an effect due to velocity, not position, and (D) a motion shared by all stars.
Aberration Measurements
The technique used by Bradley [I7281 in his discovery of stellar aberration was very clever, and worth reviewing, if only to show why it cannot be universally used. Actually, he was attempting to measure parallax, and he very carefully chose a star for which it was easy to define a reference direction, for he lacked modern clock drives and accurate timing mechanisms that nowadays make the measurement routine. The star 7-Draconis (RA = 1 7 ~ 5 5 ~ .d4e,c = 51'30') [Burnham 19781 passes very near the zenith direction in Bradley's England, so he fastened his telescope to a chimney and mea-
sured the minimum angle $,, between the zenith and y-
Draconis as the star passed overhead many times over a period of years. The star passed slightly south of the zenith, but not always at the same $,,. In the search for parallax, he had expected the southern-most transit to be in December, but it occurred in March instead. The effect was thus due to velocity, not position, as the two are out of phase. His careful measurements not only led him to the discovery
* Sir Edmund Whittaker, in History of the Theories of Acther and
Electricity, Thomas Nelson & Sons, London 1910 (revised edition 1951, reprinted 1962), vol. 1, p. 94, footnote 2, points out that "Roemer,in a letter to Huygens of date 13 December 1677, mentions a suspected displacement of the apparent position of a star, due to the motion of the Earth at right angles to the line of sight. cf. Correspondence d e
Huygens, vii, p. 53."

' 90

GALILEAN ELECTRODYNAMICS

Vol. 4, no. 5

of aberration,' but also to the discovery of nutation, because his reference direction was the zenith on the wobbling Earth.
With better apparatus and hindsight Bradley would surely use stellar references instead, if only to avoid the nutation that complicates the measurements. For definiteness, imagine a reference star located along the Ezrth's ve!c?city vector. All such stars lie on the ecliptic; we may choose y-Virginis, third brightest star in Virgo as an example, see Fig. 2. This star lies very close to the autumnal equinoctial point, so that we travel directly toward it a t the time of the winter solstice, and directly away from it a t the time of the summer solstice.

Ito y-~raconis

i
IL

!

Autumnal Equinoctal Point

Fig. 2: Operational definition of stellar aberration. The reference direction for aberration measurements is along the present velocity vector vo b. The drawing shows the Earth both at winter solstice and at summer solstice, when the velocity is directed respectively toward and away from the autumnal equinox. For our purposes, the star 7-Virginis (very close to the autumnal equinox) may be chosen as the reference star. The angle 8 between the reference star and a star such as 7-Draconis is observed and found to be different in the
winter than it was in the summer. The difference is 2 X l o v 4
radians, amounting to 41" for a star exactly at the pole of the ecliptic. The semi-major axis of the aberration ellipse is 20".5 for all stars.
Now imagine a star located a t the pole of the ecliptic (i.e., in a direction perpendicular to the ecliptic). For a closeenough example, we choose y-Draconis, which may be seen a t either of the two times y-Virginis may be used as a reference star. The basic fact of aberration is that the sighting angle 8 between the two stars is not the same for both observations, but differs by OJUe - BDec radians = 2 x 20" .5 = 41". Such an aberration is called either "stellar aberration" or "Bradley
aberration." Aberration is observed for all stars, including y-Virginis,
which in March and September will be viewed at an angle
perpendicular to the velocity. For stars located on the ecliptic, the measurements are complicated by the fact that
the angle between the velocity vector and the subject star changes by 360' during the course of a year anyway, and that explains why one must consider the sight angles between two stars, taking into account that both stars may be aberrated, though not by equal amounts.
For our discussion, the salient points are (1) aberration always involves a subject star and the Earth's orbital velocity vector; (2) aberration is always measured as a variation in the sight-angle between the subject star and a reference star as a function of time of year; (3) the major component of aberration is due to the Earth's orbital velocity (with a 1% contribution caused by Earth's rotational velocity); (4) the amount of aberration diminishes from the maximum (vOrb/c = 21" .5, when compared with a hypothetical measurement made at rest with respect to the Sun) toward zero as sine, where B is the angle between the stars; (5) Bradley aberration is also observed for planets [Mueller 19691.

In actual practice, one uses star catalogues that give right ascension and declination values for stars, as they would be seen from the Sun's frame of reference a t a given epoch. Corrections for aberration must then be made by calculating the velocity of the Earth in ecliptic coordinates for the observation time [Montenbruck 1991, Magen and Boksenberg 19921. In large telescopes, of course, the aberrational correction is automatically made by computer for the region of the sky being observed, whether observations are being made of stars, planets, the moon, or any other celestial body.

Einstein's Explanation of Aberration

Einstein [I9051 was quite specific in his explanation of aberration. I n Section 7, "Theory of Doppler's Principle and
of Aberration," he uses the Lorentz transformations t o convert from a remote source K of electromagnetic waves to the observer's system k: "From the equation for w' it follows that if an observer is moving with velocity v relatively to an infinitely distant source of light of frequency v in such a way
that the connecting line 'source-observer' makes the angle 4
with the velocity of the observer referred to a system of coordinates which is a t rest relatively to the source of light, the
frequency v' . . ." Following this, he presents his Doppler for-
mula; then, after a few short lines of uncontroversial algebra, he presents his formula for aberration. We will not review the derivation, because similar calculations can be found in [Born 1962; Fock 1964; Joos 1931; Moller 1952; Misner 1970; Sard 19701 and many others.
For our purposes, the relevant consideration is the assumption underlying all standard SRT derivations, viz., that the result is calculated by applying the Lorentz transformation between the star's and the Earth's frames of reference. For example, Mgller [I9521 clearly adopts this derivation when he asserts: "...we take S and S to denote the systems of coordinates in which the fixed stars and the Earth, respectively, are at rest." Let us clarify this issue further. In Section 7, Einstein [I9051 derives his Doppler formula and his aberration formula, the latter appearing on the same page no more than a few centimeters down the page; both formulas contain the velocity, and it is abundantly clear that the sarne velocity is implied in both. The result in our present notation, where vrel is the relative velocity of Earth and star, is
EINSTEIN'S ABERRATION FORMULA

tan 0

= tan 8'

1- ( v r e i / ~ ) ~ 1 - [vrel/c] sec 0'

where the angle 8' is the star-Earth angle seen from the star. For velocities much less than the speed of light, this becomes 8' - 8 = (vrel/c) sin 6 for the differential (aberrational) angle.
When one considers two positions of the Earth six months apart and applies Einstein's aberration formula to
both locations, the result shows only the effect of the reversal of the Earth's velocity. Let us suppose for the sake of argument that a star moves steadily a t ustar = 50 km/s with respect to the Sun. In Einsteinian relativity, there is an aberration due to the 50 km/s, but it is merely an immeasurable offset. T h a t is, a t one time of year the relative velocity of the

While the aberrational angle is about 21 seconds of arc, stellar parallax, by comparison, is only a second of arc for the nearest stars, and that explains why Bradley was able to discover aberration over a century before the 1850s when parallax was finally measured [Asimov 19711.

, Sept./Uct. 1993

Hayden: STELLAR ABERRATION

9 1

I

star with respect to Earth is v,d = 80 km/s, and six months later, with v k = -vo+ it is vfel = 20 km/s, but when one compares the two readlngs of t6e angle 8,the diflerence is
still (vrel - v i d ) / c = 2vOrb/c = 6O(km/s)/c = 41".
. ..I t is thus clear that SW regards aberration t o be due t o the relative velocity of Earth and star. We note ir? p m s i ~ g that some authors [Shadowitz 19681have applied the Lorentz
transformations rather vaguely, without telling specifically
which coordinate systems are being considered. Whether this is implying a new or merely careless approach is not certain.
Since such authors do not openly contradict Einstein, we
may assume that the intent is to use the obvious coordinate system transformation, vtr., t h a t between star and Earth. Leighton [I9591 leaves the derivation as a problem for the
student. We will return t o this topic in the Conclusions section,
but for now, the important c~nclusionis what may be con-
sidered a theorem of SRT:

and from this, one can detennine the masses of the stars, because one
also knows the mass ratio Mi /M2.
Primary 'star' of Mizar
(a spectroscopic binary)
% fi 3.56 vo,
I (w.r.t. center of mass)

I I II The Lorentz transformation equations of SRT
- assert that there is an aberrational angle (verb
vst,)/c radians due t o the relative velocity of
I I1 star and Earth.
Relative Velocity Does Not Cause Aberration
Binary (double) stars are as common as single ones, and are a common interest of amateur astronomers. Burnham [I9781 lists five pages of binaries t h a t can be seen in Sagittarius alone with a modest telescope. That is, everywhere one looks in the sky, one may see stars orbiting each other, with all conceivable orbital parameters and all orientations to the line of sight. The binaries present an excellent opportunity for analyzing whether relative velocity of Earth and star is the cause of aberration.
Let us look briefly at the first binary star to be discovered, c-Ursae Majoris, known as Mizar, 88 light-years distant [Burnham 19781, the star in the middle of the handle of the Big Dipper. The primary (Mizar A) is an A2 of about 70 times the luminosity of the Sun. It is not a single star, but rather a "spectroscopic binary," a pair of stars whose relative motion is determined by periodic variations in the Doppler shifts; they are so close to one another that they cannot be resolved with any telescope (Fig. 3). Coincidentally, Mizar A was the first spectroscopic binary t o be discovered. Each of the stars is about 35 times the luminosity of the Sun.' The period of revolution is 20.5386 days, and the separation of the two is about 18 million miles (about 1/5 of the Earth-Sun separation). These numbers imply that the components of this binary orbit their common center of mass a t 1.72 times as fast as the Earth orbits the Sun.
As an aside, it is useful to know how the orbital parameters are determined from the periodic nature of the spectra. At a given time, the two components have respectively a blue and a not necessarily equal red shift. The ratio of the shifts gives the ratio of the masses, which is unity in the case of Mizar A . The period is the time for the spectrum of one component to repeat itself, going through both blue and red shifts. From the velocity and the period, one finds the radius of the orbit, or more generally, the shape of the ellipse for elliptical motion, as in the present case, where the eccentricity is 0.54. From celestial mechanics, the period is related to the semi-major axis a by

Fig. 3. The relative velocity between Earth and the components of the spectroscopic binary in C-Ursae Majoris (Mizar A). Stars A, and Aq are each about 35 times a s luminous as the Sun, are sep&at ed by 18 million miles, andmove about their common center of mass with a veriod
of 20.5386 days, with a velocity of 1.72 times the ~ a r t h ' s
orbital velocity. For the orientation shown, the relative
1 velocities are 0.72 and -2.72 (in orbital velocity units for
A, and Ag respectively; in 10.3 days, the relative ve oci-
ties will bk reversed (with some very minor correction for the Earth's motion).
Calling one star of this binary A,, and the other A p , we may say that at one time, star A, travels in the same
direction as we do at a relative velocity of 0.72vOrb, and
Ap travels in the opposite direction a t a relative velocity of -2.72vOrb; 10.3 days later, the velocities are reversed.
We may, without loss of generality, assume that the Earth is heading toward y-Virginis during the 10.3 days while the velocities of A, and Ap reverse. If indeed, relative velocity were t o cause aberration, there should be aberra-
tions of 8, = 0.72vOrb/c and Bp = -2.?2vOrb/c at some
time t o . This means that the stars should be separated by
( 0 . 7 2 -~ ~[-2~.72~vOrb])/c = 2 x 1.72vOrb/c = 1'10" .5. In a
mere 10.3 days, the velocities will have reversed, and have
the values of 8, = -2.72vOrb/c and Op = 0.72vo,blc, each star having moved by 1'10" .5. In fact, this spectroscopic
binary is known to be binary only though its red and blue Doppler shifts, because there is n o observable angular separation at all between the iwo stars of the binary.3 As we have seen, stellar movements on the order of 0.01 arc-seconds are routinely measured, so there should be no difficulty in measuring -indeed, viewing with the naked eye - the lo4 times larger separation due to such aberration, if it occurred.
Mizar is but one dramatic example, and (despite agreement among astronomers) might be faulted on the grounds that we cannot actually see its two components individually. Algol, in Perseus, has been recognized since 1782 as
The other "star" of the binary (Mizar B) is also a binary, so that
Mizar is correctly called a binary-binary.
An angular separation of 0.007" is calculated.

' 92

GALILEAN ELECTRODYNAMICS

Vol. 4, no. 5

an eclipsing binary, although the fact was not confirmed unti1 spectroscopic analysis was performed in 1889. It has a n extremely bright component (100 suns); the dimmer one, a little more luminous than the sun, was not observed until 1978,,,..E,very2.78 days the dimmer star passes in front of the brighter, changing the brightness from ahout. 2.1 tn 3.4 magnitude, and in between the total luminosity decreases by about 0.1 magnitude when the brighter star eclipses the dimmer. The velocity of the larger component is 1.4vOrb. and that of the dimmer about 7 . 7 ~ ~ ~ ~ .
For a case where both components can be seen, consider ('-Sagit arii, which has an angular separation (at maximum) of 0".532, and a period of 21.14 years. In this case the velocities of the components about the center of mass are about vOrb/2, which, by the relative-velocity argument would result in about 10 seconds of arc differential aberration, some 20 times as great as observed values.
Neither of these binaries, nor any other in the sky exhibits the aberration that would occur if relative velocity determined aberration. [See also Ives 1950, Phipps 19981.
We conclude that
Experiment ally, Bradley aberration is due to
[ the Earth's orbital velocity and NOT to relative velocity of Earth and star.
Conclusions
The basic facts of stellar aberration are (A) the apparent direction 0 of a star varies around an
ellipse varying from a circle (for stars on the pole of the ecliptic) to a straight line (for stars on the ecliptic), the semi-major axis being an angle equal to vOrb/c radians, or about 20".5; (B) The reference direction against which the measurement of aberration is made is the un-aberrated one, namely forward and rearward along the velocity vector of the Earth in orbit, but aberration shows up as a diference in sight angles between pairs of stars; (C) Planets, as well as stars, exhibit aberration; (D) There is a minor contribution to aberration due to the rotation of the Earth; (E) Einstein's hypothesis notwithstanding, stellar aberration is most specifically not due to relative velocity.
Relativists have argued since Einstein [I9051 that the explanation of stellar aberration is a minor triumph of SRT. Specifically, SRT assumes that the Lorentz transformations, based on vrel, are correct, and uses them to convert stellar coordinates to Earth ones and conversely. In SRT, then, stellar aberration is nothing more and nothing less than the result of converting the star-Earth angle from one system to the other.
It should be noted that the high stellar velocities with rapidly changing direction required to test - and reject this relative-velocity hypothesis occur only in binary stars where the components are very close together, so close, in fact, that the individual stars cannot be separated with any optical telescope. Though today many thousands of binaries are thoroughly understood through their spectra and well known laws of celestial mechanics, the first discovery of a spectroscopic binary, was that of hlizar A , by Pickering in

1889 [Burnham 19781, only a few short years before Einstein's 1905 SRT paper. Given the somewhat slow communications existing at the time, it is reasonable for Einstein not to have known about the existence of such spectroscopic binaries. One cannot grant this convenient ignorance to the essentially identica! e>;p!matims f~un:! ir: the more r e c e ~ tliterature [Born 1962; Fock 1964; Joos 1931; Mgller 1952; Misner 19701.
There will certainly be scientists who wish to salvage SRT by inventing a new explanation. Let us emphasize that the problem lies deeper than mere replacement of the standard SRT derivation with another. The standard derivation
proves that there is an aberrational angle (verb - vStar)/c
radians due to the relative velocity of source and observer, but this conclusion is experimentally false; specifically, the aberrational angle is vOrb/c, and the stellar velocity is not involved. An alternative derivation, to be acceptable, must not only describe aberration correctly, but simultaneously
deny that aberration depends upon the velocity of the star,
and thereby deny that the Lorentz transformation between star and Earth is valid.
In other words, to salvag-e SRT, one will have to contradiet Einstein.
Stellar aberration does not support SRT; it contradicts
SRT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I wish especially to thank Professor Cynthia W. Peterson of the university of Connecticut who has provided much useful criticism of the manuscript. Her help is all the kinder
because she does not necessarili share the author's approach to the subject.
REFERENCES
Asimov, Isaac, Astronomy from Flat Earth to Quasar, Discus/Avon, New York 1971.
Born, Max, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Dover Publications, New York 1962.
Bradley, J., "Account of a new discovered motion of the Fix'd stars," Phil. Trans.vo1. 35,p. 637 (1728).
Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial Handbook, vol. 3, Dover Publications, New York, NY, 1978.
Feynman, R.P., Leighton, R.B., Sands, M., The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 1, Addison-Welsey, New York 1963.
Fock, V., N. Kemmer, The Theory of Space, Time, and Gravitaiion, 2nd Revised Ed., Pergamon Press, New York 1964.
Hagen, J.B., A. Boksenberg, The Astronomical Almanac, U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1992. Illingworth, V., Facts on File Dictionary of .Astronomy, Facts on File
Publications, New York 1985. Ives, H.E., "Extrapolation from the Michelson-Morley Experiment,"
Li J. Opt. Soc. Am., V O ~ .40,pp. 185-190 (1950
Kutner, M.L., Astronomy, A Physical Perspective, arper & Row, New York 1987.
Leighton, R.B., Principles of Modern Physics, McGraw-Hill, New York 1959.
Misner, C.W., K.S. Thorne, J.A. Wheeler, Gravitation, W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco 1970.
M ~ l l e r ,C., "New Experimental Tests of the Special Theory of Relativity," Proc. Roy. Soc.vo1. A 270,pp. 306-312 (1962).
Montenbruck, 0.. Pfleger, T., Astronomy on the Personal Computer, Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 1991.
M ~ e l l e r I . 1H. ~. Eichhorn, Spherical and Practical Astronomy as Applied to Geodesy, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York 1969.
Phipps, T.E., "Relativity and aberration," Am. J. Phys., vol. 57,
pp. 549-550 (1989). Sard, R.D., Relafivistic Mechanics, W.A. Benjamin, Inc., New York
1970. Shadowitz, A., Special Relativity, Saunders Publ. CO., 1968. Wallenquist, A., Dictionary of Astronomical Terms, American Museum
Science Books, Garden City, N J , 1966.
Yilrnaz, H.,Introduction to the Theory of Relativity and the Principles
of Modern Physics, Blaisdell Publishing Co., New York 1965.

Experience, Reason, and Simplicity Above Authority P.O. Box 545, Storrs, CT 06268-0545 Ph. (203) 486-0436; FAX 429-7775 Bitnet: HAYDEN@UCONNVM.edu
January 6, 1994
Mr. N. Stephan Kinsella Jackson & Walker, LLP 1100 Louisiana, Suite 4200 PO Box 4771 Houston, TX 772 10-4771
Dear Mr. Kinsella: Many thanks for the Shubash Kak article and your "Morality of Capitalism" essay. I am only
now able to begin reading it. The Phys. Essays paper (enclosed) was submitted to and rejected by about four physics journals.
Arguments for rejection were never direct. Nobody found fault with any discussion of any experiment; in fact, all reviewersfor alljournals ignored all experiments. I would have been happy if somebody paid attention to the question raised, and/or to the experimental discussions, but the fact that everybody did an end-run convinced me that a degree in physics does not necessarily imply that its owner is a scientist. My growing frustration with that process was what drove Petr Beckmann to found the present journal, though by the time things were under weigh, I had the paper accepted in Phys. Essays. Best regards,
~ o w a ( dC. Hayden Editor

Physics Essays
Is the Velocity of Light Isotropic in the Frame of the Rotating Earth?

volume 4, number 3, 1991

Howard C. Hayden

Abshract Einsten 's second postulate refers only indirect[%through thefirst postulate, to inertial referenceframes. Still, f m tatbooks proclaim that the speed oflight is constant in all referenceframa. Since the rotating Earth b not an inertial system, it k rmonable to ask what the speed of light is with rqect to a laboratory referenceframe. The raulh
obtainedfrom several publkhed aperiments are fully conszktent with vector d i t i o n light velocity with velocity due to Earth's rotation.

Key words: speed of light, relativity, Michehn-Gale, Brillet-Hall, Hafele-Keating

1. INTRODUCTION Einstein's famous special relativity paper( proposed two postulak: (1)
the principle of relativity and (2) the independence of the speed of light on the motion of the source. Postulate 2 in that paper is actually rather conservative, referring explicitly to motion of the source (which in the prevalent "ether" theory would not affect light velocity at the receiver anyway) and only indirectly to inertial reference frames.
When one demand, as most textbooks do, that an inertial reference frame be used, the reader is led to question what may happen when the reference system is not inertial. Is it implied that in a noninertial system the speed of light is not constant?
Many predictions have been derived from these two postulates, and have been successfully confirmed in e l e r a t o r physics, atomic physics, and nuclear physics, to name a few branches of physics. Other predictions have met with limited success, especially those of kinematics. For example, no experiment has shown - without initially assuming the constancy of the speed of light or the brentz transformation equations - the effect called brentz contraction.
Tinte dilation by the Einstein model is a phenomenon wherein time is s l d in moving systems, and, importantly, !he slowing of time is rm$rocal, that is, both systems see slowed time in the other system. There is ovmhelming confirmation that processes are slowed for objects in motion,

but this result cannot logically be called "time dilation," because reciprocity has never been observed. We note for the record that any classical model involving "ether" and its cousins also involves slowing of events in systems moving through the "medium," providing that the interaction responsible for the osci!lations moves at the speed of light.
The experimental confirmation of Einsteinian kinmtics, therefore, has met with frustration. Of course, if the speed of light is constant, the kinematical relations must be true, since they foiiow iogicaiiy. However, the phenomenal success of Einsteinian rnechania (as in accelerators) does not
prove that light speed is constant: the truth of the conclusions does not
imply the truth oftbe premiseo). It is the purpose of this paper to review the purely optical speed of light experiments and speed of light comparison evriments to establish just what is known about this important premise.

2. THE FIRSI' :Y-

1913

The ~ a g n a c ' ~e)xperiment sent light trawling c l o c ~ s eand counter-

clockwise around a rotating table, the result of which was a nonzero fringe

shift. Since this is the behavior expected in an "ether1' theory, wherein the

wave would travel at c f r o around the device, ~agnac(?c)oncluded that

he had proved the existence of the ether. We note that the rotating $tern

of the light source, mirrors, and film had high angular velocity and high

centripetal acceleration.

Y

Howard C. Havden

\

Figure 1. Michelson-Morley apparatus, simplified: The actual apparatus has far more mirrors than are usually shown in texts that describe the MichelsonMorley experiment. The overall path length was about 11 m.

Figure 2. The Michelson-Gale apparatus: The large loop was 1100 ft (335.3 m) by 2000 ft (609.6 m) of 12-in. (30.5 cm) diameter pipe. The smaller was used as a calibration loop. When the central images were aligned, the fringes from the larger loop were more spread out in the amount of 0.23
fringe. Results were consistent with light velocities of c + u and c - u for
light traveling east and west respectively, as well as with relativity.

with parallel rays of light traveling in the assumed direction of ether dnft
of velocity V. The round-trip average speed from G to mirror M2 is as
calculated above. Light traveling at right angles to the ether velocity moves
at (c2 + v2)In. The difference in average velocities gives rise to a fringe
shiW3) for wavelength h given by

For the conditions in the Michelson and Morely experiment A would have been 0.4 for V = 30 kmh, the velocity of the Earth in orbit. They detected no A values as large as 0.04. Indeed, their rrns A values corresponded to an ether dnft of no more than about 5 km/s.
]oos( wd a similar apparatus and succeeded in showing an ether dnft of less than about 1.5 kmls. 4.2 Michelson-Gale
At some urging Michelson and ~ a l e ' l ~pe)rformed what is certainly the most grandiose, but least-known, optical interference experiment ever performed Its purpose was to see whether the Earth's rotation would manifest itself in a fringe shift. Figure 2 shows the apparatus: an evacuated pipe forming a rectangle was arranged with mirrors at the comers so that light could travel simultaneously clockwise and counterclockwise around the rectangle. The smaller area was used as a calibration loop.
Michelson's derivation (and, equivalently, Beckrnann's) of the predicted fringe shift is based on the assumption that light travels east at c - r o and
west at c + r o , where r is the distance R cos $ (R = Earth's radius, $
= latitude) from the axis of the Earth. The result follows in a few lines of simple algebra and is given below in Eq. (4). See Post'") for a derivation from relativity theoty.
The calculated fringe shift A from both the Einstein model and hlichelson's is

A = ( 4 A o sin $)/k,

(4)

where A is the area of the loop, o is the angular frequency of rota-

tion of the Earth, c is the velocity of light, and h is the wavelength of the light used. The dimensions of the rectangular light path w r e 2010 ft (612.6 m) by 1113 ft (339.2 m). One must look back six decades in m at this experiment in which light traveling over 6000 ft (1828.8 m) in one direction undergoes interference with light traveling over 6000 ft (1828.8 rn) the other direction. The experimental result A = 0.230 f 0.005 agreed well with the predicted result 0.236 & 0.002. It may come as a surprise to some that a speed of light comparison experiment can ever yield a non-null result; this one does.
Until the advent of satellites the Michelson-Gale experiment had by far the highest sensitivity yet achieved to the rotational velocity of the Earth. The results are fully consistent with special relativity applied in an "inertial" nonrotating frame at the center of the Earth, but they also provide a measurement of the velocity of light with respect to a point on the Earth, albeit somewhat indirectly. [Equation (4) has the area A and the angular velocity o,but not the velocity directly.] 4.3 Ailan et al.: Sagnac on a Giobai M e
This east-west asymmetq of Eq. (4) was confirmed recently on a planetary scale by the microwave propagation experiment of Allan et aL.(l7) using satellites and several ground stations where Eq. (4) was used to calculate the "Sagnac correction" between remote sites. Only by making such corrections is it possible to synchronize clocks at various positions around the globe. Moreover, the Sagnac correction is not applied just to signals traveling entirely around the globe, but going part-way. Indeed, it was applied in a one-way sense(17) :
The Sagnac correction from NBS Boulder, CO to Paris, France varies from 71 to 112 ns and from Boulder to Washington, DC, varies from 11 to 13 ns, depending upon satellite position.
4.4 Modern Michelson-Morley Experiments The advent of masers and lasers has enabled investigators to under-
take Michelson-Morley experiments of great precision. In such experiments frequency shifts, rather than fringe shifts, are sought.

Howard C. Hayden

A fo
(Hz)
--
Figure 5. Laboratory data from Fig. 4, translated into all four quadrants: 80 values resulting from Fourier analysis may be arbitrarily increased bv n W2 with no change in the solution. Results shown here demonstrate that the laboratoty-based data of Brillet and Hall show entirely the incorrect signature for a model in which the speed of light is isotropic in the laboratory frame. (1) No points are at the origin, where the density of points should be the highest. (2) The data are not random in angle; indeed, there are 40" sectors containing no points at all.
The investigators were looking for any effects due to a "cosmic drift"
-associated with anisotropy is the cosmic blackbody radiation. For this model
V 400 M s ; a maximum frequency shift amplitude of 79 MHz should result if the direction of the cosmic drift were in the plane of rotation of the apparatus, and zero if the dnft wre perpendicular to the plane of rotation. If the dnft is simply that due to orbital velocity (30 W s ) , then the shift amplitude should be 442 kHz at noon and midnight when the orbital velocity vector lies in the plane of rotation of the apparatus, and lowest at 6:00 a.m. and 6:OO p.m. when the velocity is more nearly aligned with the axis or rotation (the trigonometric details are of no interest here).
The offset angle 80should my with time of day and with time of year, but should always have the same direction with respect to the fixed stars ("cosmic drift model") or with respect to the Earth's orbital velocity ("Sun" model).
For the Beckrnann model the shift from Eq. (7) should be given by
4 = (31 Hz) cos 2 8, at all times of the day and year, and 8 is the
angle of the Fabry-Perot with respect to the east. Special relativity (on the assumption that it is applicable) predicts a shift of zero.
Data were taken in the form of frequency shift versus 8 and were Fourier analyzed to determine the amplitude of the various components. A steady drift and cos 8 term of 100 Hz amplitude occurred but are of no concern here.
Of interest are the results Uoand 80 from Eq. (a), below:
The authors report a "persistent spurious'.' 2 0 amplitude of 17 Hz shift ((f

about 35% for the data set shown) at an "approximately constant phase in the laboratory frame" of about -30" f10". Results for one day's work are
shown as open circles in the polar plot of M0vs 80 in Fig. 4, reproduced
from the original. When the ( 2 8 ) s h h are translated into sidereal coordinates (s signs
in Fig. 4), they show no systematic dependence and, in fact, are isotropic to within 0.13 f 0.22 Hz, as shown by the resultant vector. The constancy leads the authors to conclude that to a sensitivity of 3 x 10-9, the Lorentz transformation is confirmed. Indeed, the results show an absence of effects due to an extraterrestrial "ether" velocity down to a limit of 16 m/s.
The authors have handled their data in a manner such that effects that may arise from the Earth's rotation are ignored. In Beckmann's model the frequency shift from Eq. (7) should be a four-lobed cos 2 ( 8 - 80) curve with 31 Hz amplitude. Noise in the data would result in fluctuations in both magnitude and angle, although the variables are related through Eq. (7) and not simultaneously random. If light velocity were constant in the laboratory, the frequency shift would be zero: noise would scatter data points randomly around the original.
The Fourier analysis performed on the data results in €I0 values which are in modulo W2 form, lying in a single quadrant only; any multiple of W2 may be added. In other words, any point representing laboratory data may be transiated into each of the other quadrants by a 90" rotation. In Fig. 5 we take the liberty of translating the laboratory angle data of Fig. 4
into all four quadrants. The rings represent Mo values of 10, 20, and 30
Hz. The results clearly have the wrong signature for a model wherein light velocity is isotropic in the laboratory frame. First, the data are not centered
around go= 0 as they ought to be; indeed, none can be found within
the 10 Hz ring where the concentration should be highest. Second, the data are not distributed randomly in angle. Sectors of 40" are entirely devoid of points.
By Beckmann's model the data of Fig. 5 should cluster around angles corresponding to the compass points and should be about 31 Hz in magnitude, diminishing as 80 values vary because of noise coupling through Eq. (7). All points are encompassed w i h n a 31 cos 2( 8 - 50O ) envelope. Even though Brillet and Hall do not provide data on the orientation of their apparatus with respect to the compass points and present data for one day's run only (were data from other days closer to 31 Hz?), it is clear that Beckmann's model enjoys better support than any model that holds that the speed of light is constant in the laboratory frame.
5. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION This paper asks the question, What is the velocity of light with respect to
a point on the rotating Earth? The sagnac(?) experiment showed a pronounced W/CCW asymmetry in
a rapidly rotating system whose magnitude is consistent with velocities of c fr o with respect to an arbitrary point rotating with that system, although there is evidently a way(16) to explain the results in a manner consistent with the constant velocity notion. The ~afele-~eatinlag)( experiment proved that the speed of light is not constant with respect to the laboratory frame on the rotating Earth. The phenomenal ~ichelson- ale( 15) experiment provided a measurement accurate enough to determine the angular velocity of the Earth to f.2.5%,.but could be interpreted as a Sagnac-type experiment. The ~ l l a n1(7) experiment not only showed the east-west asymmetry in the time of travel for light traveling the globe, but also showed that for signals traveling part way, there must be a "Sagnac correction'' in order to synchronize clocks. The ~ r i l l e t - ~ a l i e(x~p~er)iment is the clearest in interpretation; its

attempt at a large field in Clearing, Illinois, to measure the effect of the Earth's rotation on the velocity of light." In 55 references E.L. Hill, H a M o o k of Physics, edited by E.U. Condon, does not list the experiment In a list of some 1600 references C.W.Misner, KS. Thorne, ~ nfd.b Whee!er, Grrav%a&n (W.H. F.mma~aid Co., 1970) n;& fro mention of Michelson-Gale; even though the experiment is consistent with general relativity theory. E.T. Whittaker,A Histoty oftbe %eories of Aether andElectriGiQ: 78eM0det.n llheoties (Tomash, Am. Inst. Physics, NY, 1987) is similarly mute. Moreover, the paper is not mentioned in any of the papers discussed below which claim to measure the velocity of light, or to compare light speeds in various directions. R.D. Sard, RelatiuirticMecbanicr; (WA Benjamin, NY,1970) comments that the Michelson-Gale experiment determined the Earth's angular velocity within 2.5%. 16. E.J. Post, Rev. Mod.Phys. 39, 475 (1967). 17. D.W.Alla~,MA Weiss, and N. Ashby, Science 228, 69 (1985). See, aiso, Alan et a/., lEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. IM-34, l i 8 (1585). 18. T.S.Jaseja, k Javan, J. Murray, and C.H. Townes, Phys. Rev. A 133, 1221 (1964). 19. k Brillet and J.L. Hall, Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 549 (1979).

Howard C. Hayden

Department of Physics

I

University of Connecticut

Stom, Connecticut 06269-3046 U.SA

Howard C. Hayden

Physics Essays
E
8
Special Relativity: Problems and Alternatives
Howard C . Hayden

volume 8, number 3, 1995

Abstract Despite a near century of impressive successes and nearly universal acceptance by physicists, Einstein's special relativity theory (SRT) has several problems, most of which arise from a lack of experimental confirmation, but some of which seem to imply a direct contradiction between experiment and prediction. First and foremost, SRT is a theory of relativity, neatly codified in the Lorentz transformation equations (ZEs), which provide a prescription for converting coordinate values in one inertial system into those of another. That a direct comparison of measurements in two relatively moving referenceframes has never been done shows that at least half of the theory is unconfirmed. Also, the muchheralded Lorentz contraction has never been demonstrated experimentally. Absence of en'dence is not evidence of absence; neither is it evidence of presence. In SRT, when the L E s are applied to two systems A and B moving at right angles to one another (as seen from a third reference frame O),the velocity of A with respect to B is not the negative of the velocity of B with respect to A. SRT then invokes "Thomas rotation" to explain the asymmetry, although nothing actually rotates. But there is also abundant evidence to show that SRT must, at the very least, engage in tortuous reasoning to explain some expenmen. tal results, among them stellar aberration (which in SRT depends upon relative velocity of Earth and star); the Sagnac and Michelson-Gale experiments; the Allen around-the-world Sagnac experiment; the Hafele-Keating experiment; the Brillet-Hall experiment; and the Champeney-Moon experiment.
Key words: relativity, speed of light, time dilation, Lorentz contraction, ChampeneyMoon

1. INTRODUCTION There can be no doubt that Einstein's special relativity
theory (SRT) has had a profound effect on physics. It has successfully predicted a broad variety of effects that would surely have astounded Newton.
A huge number of experiments cannot prove SRT any more than a huge number of experiments proved Newton's mechanics. ,411 rational scientists must agree, then, that there is no basis for believing SRT as if it were the last word in physics. With that as a working hypothesis, I herein present a few holes in the fabric, but only after acknowledging the major experiments supporting SRT. 1.1 Support for SRT 1.1.1 e Speed of Light is Independent of the Speed of its
Source The famous light-speed postulate in Einstein's seminal paper(') is that the speed of light is independent of the velocity of the source. This is well supported by binary stars, some of which should show themselves as triplets if star speed adds to light speed,(2)Michelson's brilliant but not so famous 1913 experiment with moving mirrors,(3)and the famous experiment of Alvager et al. ,(4) who measured the speed of light fro111 pions moving at nearly the speed of light, and found c, as

expected from Einstein's postulate, rather than nearly 2c, as would be the case if particle velocity were to add to light velocity. 1.1.2 "lime Dilation" (Slowdown of Moving Clocks)
The most famous "time dilation" experiments are those involving moving muons, which have a half-life of 2.2 ps. Formed in the upper atmosphere, they travel at nearly the speed of light, but would decay in intensity to 112 in a mere 660 m if it were not for the increase in half-life due to their high speed.'') Half-lives of high-energy muons in accelerators in one experiment(6)have been measured to be about 39 times the 2.2 ps half-life of the resting muons. A more dramatic experiment, not in the sense of the size of the effect, but in the sense that it involved real atomic clocks, was the widely unread Hafele-Keating around-the-world clocks expe~irnent,'~ in which the authors conclude that the results support relativity theory.
The tslowdown factor for moving clocks is
where v is the velocity about which more will be said later.

i

f

-

Special Relativity: Problems and Alternatives

acceleration for muons, how can acceleration be invoked as an acknowledge the inequality.and apply the Thomas rotation to

explanation for the twin paradox?

explain the result. Ungar(") explains how this is done, and

1.3.3 Idenh'cal Experiences with Identical Clocks Produce Different Results

Mocanu(") shows that the Thomas rotation then leads to fur-
ther difficulties. Specifically, the scalar product Ej - B, bet-

Consider an infinite array of equally spaced clocks Ci along ween the electric field vector Ej in one reference frame with

tae

=f cssr&=ate ~ y ~ t LC.LU nn"-, C --AIuuhL-W1 -u IC. .n !u-C7..-L3A and B ~ i i ,R, ifi a ~ e h e irs get, an isvafis~ts, f t&c: e!ectrs?n;igc&

field,

the x'-axis of 0'. All clocks are of identical construction

as it is supposed to be. Apart from that, one is entitled to ask,

What rotates? Applying the Thomas rotation to explain the

0' A

B

inequality v,, # v, is stretching the concept of causality well

0 CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

beyond its normal limits.

1.3.5 Stellar Aberration

The following results are directly derivable from SRT and Einstein'') was quite specific in his explanation of aberra-

are part of the literature dating back to Einstein's original tion. In Sec. 7 of Ref. 1, he uses the Lorentz transformations

paper''):

to convert from a remote source K of electromagnetic waves

to the observer's system k:

(1) If 0' is at rest with respect to 0 , then all the clocks may

be synchronized with one another.

From the equation for w' it follows that if an observer is

(2) If 0' is moving with respect to 0 , then in the system 0 all

moving with velocity v relatively to an infinitely distant

the clocks Ci may be synchronized with respect to one

source of light of frequency v in such a way that the con-

another, but only one of the clocks - A or B, but not
both - may be synchronized with respect to the set of

necting line 'source-observer' makes the angle q5 with the velocity of the observer referred to a system of co-ordi-

clocks Ci.The means of obtaining data in this hypothetical experiment is to have cameras at all clocks Cisimulta-

nates which is at rest relatively to the source of light, the
frequency v' ... .

neously (in 0 ) take pictures of the system 0'. Of the

. infinite number of pictures, all will be blank, save those Following this, he presents his Doppler formula; then, after a

showing clocks A and B.

few short lines of uncontroversial algebra, he presents his for-

mula for aberration. We will not review the derivation,

Now consider the means of getting from Case 1 to Case 2 because similar calculations can be found in many references.

@rough the simple expedient of accelerating the clocks. Let us

Numerous references(1214p) oint out that stellar aberration is

make no demands upon the distance of separation, the time of not actually due to the relative velocity of the Earth and a

acceleration, or the distance of acceleration. By stipulation, star, but rather to the velocity of the Earth in its orbit about

both clocks A and B are initially synchronized with the clocks the Sun. Defenders of SRT point out that the comparison .

Ci, begin with the same velocity (zero), and end with the same being made is between the Earth in one reference kame (say,

final velocity v.

in June) and another (say, in December). That explanation

Einstein's theory is unequivocal about this: as seen from 0 , fails another test, however. After all, equations for stellar

clocks A and B have lost their synchronization with respect to aberration and the Doppler effect were derived together: what-

Ci, but the loss of synchronization is dzflerent for A than for ever velocity is used in one necessarily belongs in the other.

B. That is, A may be 4 hours out of synchronization with Ci, Phipps(15)has coined the term 'Dopplerstellaraberration" as the

while B may be 5 hours out of synchronization with Ci.

4-vector analog of space-time to indicate the inseparability of

Clocks A and B are identical and undergo identical experi- the two concepts in SRT. To use relative velocity for the

ences for identical times (as measured in the single reference Doppler effect, but to use the Earth's orbital velocity in exact-

frame O r , but - according to Einstein's theory - the results ly the scune 4-vector equation for "Dopplerstellaraberration"

are different for A than for B. Einstein's theory thus abandons is to deny that causality has any role in the matter.

the notion of causality.

1.3.4 Lorentz Transformations Along Two Axes

2. "TIME DILATION" EXPERIMENTS: "CLOCKS"

The vast majority of textbook applications of Einstein's

TICK MORE SLOWLY WHEN THEY MOVE -

theory cover only the simple cases of motion along a single axis. But there is a problem, apparently known only to a few, that arises when there is motion along two noncollinear axes. Mocanu(lo)shows what happens when a coordinate system A moves at velocity v, along the x-axis, and another, B, moves

"I RELATIVE TO WHAT?
Possibly the most frequently cited support for SRT come from so-called "time dilation" experiments. The question never asked, let alone answered, is whether time is dilated, or the moving clocks have slowed down for cause, for example,

at v, along the y-axis. When one uses the famous velocity because they traverse the gravitational field of the Earth.(16)Is

addition theorem to find the velocity v, of A with respect to there an experimental way that one could distinguish between

B, and the velocity v,, of B with respect to A, the peculiar these two seemingly similar notions? Yes there is, and to lay

I . result v,, # v, is obtained, although the magnitudes of the the foundation, we first consider the famous moving-muon
relative velocities are equal, / v,, 1 = v, 1 Relativists experiments.

Special Relativity: Problems and Alternatives

(x' + vt)Z + y2 + 2 = t2 = 2t2.
Equation (4) is an anisotropic equation in which the light speed is cf v along the f x-axes, respectively. Phipps(') points cut the distinction between covariance expressed in (3) and invariance [in this case, of light speed) expressed in (4);
If the physics is correctly described by (4), then the round-trip average speed parallel to the direction of velocity v is c, = c(l - J / 2 ) , and the round-trip average speed per-
c, pendicular to the velocity is = c(1 - v ? ~ ~ ) "T~h.e famous
Michelson-M~rley('~(M-M) experiment was intended as a test of (4) by measuring the dzflerence
which is 1.5 d s for the Earth's orbital velocity (30 kmls = 10-4c) and is 0.2 mmts for the Earth's rotational velocity at 40" latitude (350 d s ) . Note the dependence in (5) on the square of the velocity. The M-M experiment had adequate sensitivity to detect an ether velocity v as small as about 5 kmls, which is much smaller than the Earth's solar-orbital velocity of 30 W s .
Various other ingenious experiments, usually designed to compare (2a) and (3), have shown unequivocally that light speed is unaffected by the Earth's orbital or galactic velocity. Considering the Earth as a system that is "moving" through the ether at velocity v so that (4) applies, Brillet and Ha11(I9) found that the v is less than about a meter per second.
It may be important to realize that all such experiments have been performed in the noninertial frame known as the
laboratory gravitationally bound to the rotating Earth. It is a
sobering thought that physicists have built up an entire theory about every reference frame everywhere based on observations made in exactly one reference frame.
Perhaps, however, the speed of light is isotropic in the laboratory simply because the dominant gravitational
field(16-) or possibly the geomagnetic field'20)- serves to
shield the experimental apparatus from the effects of the orbital velocity, much as the shell of a jet plane shields the occupants from the external wind.'20' If this is the case, then a million experiments on the surface of the Earth would not detect an effect that a single free-space experiment might. With this understanding, it is fair to say that (3) has never been tested. Probably, but not necessarily certainly, this invokes ether models. Let us briefly review some history of the matter. 3.1 The Great Luminiferous Ether 3.1.1 The Nineteenth-Century Ether
Young's 1811 discovery of the interference of light convinced the world of science that light is a wave phenomenon. It followed that light must be a traveling vibration of something, and the nature of that so-called "ether" was a mystery. Light obviously traveled enormous distances through space without distortion to the wave. In the middle of the nineteenth century, when the distance to a-Centauri was measured, and astronomers began to comprehend the vast scope of the

heavens, the ether's lack of debilitating properties upon light became even more impressive.
In most of the nineteenth century, the known electromagnetic spectrum was basically limited to the visible light spectrum. Knowledge of wavelengths and the speed of light gradually impmved; however, they were known we!! emugh throughout the century to establish that the frequencies were extremely high - several times 1014Hz - with the implication that the ether is of extremely high rigidity and extremely low mass density. Moreover, it was clear that the ether must present vanishingly small resistance to the passage of planets through it.
The motion of the Earth through the ether was viewed more or less like the motion of a baseball through the air. The ether was one thing, the Earth something else, and motion of one through the other was possible. Indeed, Michelson set out to determine that motion with his famous interferometer. In 1883 he obtained a null result in an experiment that was barely adequate to detect the orbital motion of the Earth around the Sun. Only in 1887 did he obtain, with the help of Morley, the now-famous null result,(18) to wit: the velocity of the Earth through the ether is undetectable, down to a limit of about 5 W s , whereas the orbital velocity is 30 M s . 3.1.2 Michelson 's 1904 Hypothesis
There were many attempts to explain Michelson's unexpected result, the most famous of which were Lorentz's and
o clung to a belief in ether until
of this idea, the first being the one often described in textbooks, viz., that a M-M experiment on the top of a high mountain might show reduced ether entrainment. But Michelson also proposed that if the ether is entrained also in rotation, then light would take equal times to go eastward as westward around the globe, but if not, then light would take longer to go eastward (into the ether breeze) than westward. Moreover, he noted that it should be possible to do an experiment on a much smaller scale to test the same idea, because it would only be required to measure a fractional wavelength shift. 3.1.3 The Ether Disappears: Einsteiv The Ether Rehuns:
Sagnac Einstein's model made the concept of ether superfluous with the assumption that the speed of light is isotropic in all inertial systems. Then in 1913, Sagnac acted upon Michelson's 1904 suggestion by doing an optical experiment on a table that rotated very rapidly compared to the Earth: several full rotations per minute instead of one per day.(22)He observed a fringe shift that was consistent with the idea of an ether stationary with respect to the laboratory and announced in the title of his paper that he had discovered the ether. This experiment forms the basis for modem optical gyroscopes. 3.1.4 The Ether Becomes Strange: Michelson-Gale In 1924 Michelson, with the help of Gale, measured the rotation rate of the Earth optically, using an optical path of

Special Relativity: Problems and Alternatives

"consistent with relativity theory. "(=)

The Sagnac experiment has been performed on a global

scale by Allan et al.R8) with the result that it takes about

(depending upon satellite positions) 300 ns longer for light to

go eastward than westward around the globe over exactly the

same path at exactly the same t i e , Moreover, the asymmetry

shows up in the round-trip times between two stations and is

not an effect associated only with closed-loop paths.

The existence of this "open-loop" Sagnac effect raises

interesting questions about why the Earth's orbital velocity

does not lead to similar

The Earth moves in a

near-circular orbit around the Sun, and mere extrapolation

from global scale to orbital scale predicts that the Sagnac

effect should exist and that the open-Sagnac effect should also

exist. Specifically, it should take longer for light to go for-

ward in the orbit than to go rearward; however, the

Michelson-Morley and related experiments decidedly show

that such an effect is absent. 3.5 Brillet-Hall

There exists but one experiment that is unencumbered by

interpretations that involve rotation and (nearly) sufficiently

sensitive to detect any east-west speed differences directly,

and that is the incomparable one by Brillet and

Unfor-

tunately, the decimal-chasing experiment is encumbered by its

emphasis on investigation of a result already known for nearly

a century and on which there is no dispute.

One purpose of the Brillet-Hall experiment was to deter-

mine whether our velocity ( ~ 4 0 k0mis in the general direc-

tion of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies(30))with respect to the

background blackbody radiation could be detected. By (5), the difference in average perpendicular and longitudinal velocities

would be 200 m/s. Neither the Michelson-Morley nor any

such experiment since could possibly have missed an effect so

large. In other words, we have known for more than a century that any Earth speed in excess of 5 km/s has no effect on the

speed of light as measured on the surface of the Earth, and

there was hardly any defensible reason for performing the ex-

periment. However (to quote Faraday), "Experiments do not

necessarily owe their value to hypotheses accompanying them. "(311

The Brillet-Hall experiment shows asymmetries - consistent with cf v velocity addition, where v is the Earth's
rotational velocity - but the investigators unfortunately

focused their attention on the sidereal coordinates, where the

results are already known, rather than on laboratory coor-

dinates, where the results would answer important questions.

See Ref. 27 for a more complete discussion.

3.6 Mossbauer Experiments

After the discovery of the Mossbauer effect, it became

clear that its extreme sensitivity might be used for light-speed

anisotropy measurements. Champeney el al.D2)performed a

Massbauer experiment as a first-order ether drift experiment

and concluded:

ments, interpreted on the classical assumption of an aether drift, place a limit on any steady drift past the earth, resolved parallel to the equatorial plane, of 1.6 f
2.8 mlsec. [Here, V' is the apparent ether-drift velocity
due to rotation of the Earth.]

Charnpeney's experiment was based on a prediction by R~derfer"~th)at ether drift would cause a frequency shift in the Mossbauer experiment that would be first-order in velocity. The Champeney paper cited, but paid no attention to, Ruderfer's subsequent Erratum,(34w) hich concluded

The contraction theory [Lorentz-Fitzgerald, in which clocks run slowly by factor of y] therefore predicts a null effect as does relativity theory for a one-way rotating terrestrial ether drift experiment. The proposed experiment is not a crucial experiment for deciding between the two theories.

Given the Erratum, Champeney was on extremely weak

logical grounds to draw his conclusion; in fact, the Erratum

presented reasonable grounds for not doing the experiment

(just as the Michelson-Morley experiment presented reason-

able grounds for not doing the Brillet-Hall experiment).

However, Ruderfer's admonition that the experiment would

not be crucial was ba

63 knowledge of clock behav-

ior. More recent ex

s with moving clocks enable us to

draw definitive co

from the Champeney experiment.

ent involves placing a horizontal tube, with the er end. The tube is made to rotate about a t north and just south of the ounts. Each detector counts only when the absorber is passing by, so that the south detector counts only when the absorber moves east, and the source moves west. Similarly, the north detector counts only when the source moves east and the absorber moves west.
3.6.2 Speed-of-LightEffect
The y-ray travels from source to absorber at the speed of light in that instantaneous direction. To a close approximation, the time required to traverse the length L of the tube is (in ether theory)

Because the tube rotates at angular velocity w , there is phasemodulation of the received signal, causing a relative frequency shift of

(In fact from a comparison of this dummy run with the
actual runs, we may place a limit on V' of eq. (2) of 2.2
2.2 mlsec.) ... We thus conclude that our measure-

where f, is the frequency of the y-ray, and L is the distance

t
L7

.* -- C '

Special Relativity: Problems and Alternatives
he

t

periments. The many successes of SRT do lend tremendous credence to the theory, but they do not prove it.
Self-consistency is necessary, of course, but much of it remains illusory. Textbook erudition aside, it is an uncontested fact that Lorentz contraction has never been observed in any
- reference frame, let alone in two. A clock moving iif speed v
ticks slowly by the factor y = 11(1 $12)')ln, but the speed v is the speed of the clock with respect to the gravitational field, not the speed with respect to the observer, and the mutual slowdown of clocks has never been experimentally observed, despite the beautiful textbook arguments proclaiming the selfconsistency of the process. In point of fact, no set of measurements has ever been perj6ormed in two mutually moving inertial system so that they could be compared to see whether the Lorentz transformations are infact correct. It is, or should be, sobering to note that the entire edifice of Einsteinian kinematics (including the careful refutations of the violations of "common sense") rests on exactly one class of experiments, those showing the slowdown of moving clocks.
The absence of evidence cited in the previous paragraph can also be cited as absence of evidence against SRT. Where, one may ask, is any evidence that SRT is incorrect? Critics point to the Sagnac experiment, the Michelson-Gale experiment, the Hafele-Keating experiment, the Allan around-theworld Sagnac experiment, and the absence of a forward-rearward light-speed difference when the Earth's motion around the Sun is considered as part of a huge Sagnac experiment, and others.
Defenders of SRT have shown remarkable ingenuity in the face of such assaults. For example, the title of Sagnac's paper indicates his belief that he had found the ether, yet the Sagnac effect is so assimilated into theory today that it is regarded by some(41)as a purely SRT phenomenon. The so-called "twin paradox," regarded by critics of SRT as proving the nonsense of the theory, is given in numerous textbooks expounding SRT as an example of how SRT can easily be misinterpreted by the unwary. The asymmetry of the Hafele-Keating experiment, especially that the westbound clock sped up, is touted as further proof of SRT. The around-the-world Sagnac experiment also shows that the time taken for a light signal to go east always takes longer than to go west over exactly the same path at the same time, even when the loop is not closed, yet one will be hard-pressed to find a dedicated SRT defender admit that the speed of light is different in the two directions.

"But the laboratory on the Earth is not an inertial frame," reply those who do.(42'But, if the speed of light is not the same in both directions around a rotating system, then the famous Michelson-Morley experiment should have seen a velocity difference forward versus rearward in the orbit, and it did not. Why did i f not.? Because h e iaboratory on the rotating Earth is subject to many forces (not just gravity); therefore, it is noninertial. The Earth, however, is, as a whole, an inertial system, because it is in free-fall.(41)
In my view, there are two experiments that could be done relatively inexpensively that would do much to address the issues raised here.
(1) An around-the-world Sagnac experiment using only satellites, with only the result being telemetered to the Earth. We quote from Ref. 43:
Incidentally, the final suggestion of Mi~helson,~t~h'a)t the orbital motion of the Earth around the sun be detectable in a sufficiently gargantuan ring interferometer, is not consistent with general relativity: a freely falling point object (the whole Earth in this context) defines a local Lorentz frame.
Earth satellites, such as global positioning satellites, thus qualify as inertial systems, one and all. It follows that if several were used as a large Sagnac system, there should not be a time difference between signals sent one way and those sent the other way around the globe, according to SRT. However, if light speed is constant with respect to the Earth's field, then there should be a time difference. (2) A shuttle-based Michelson-Morley experiment. The speed of a space shuttle is about 8 kmls, smaller by a factor of 4 than the Earth's orbital speed but larger by a factor of 23 than the surface speed (40" latitude) due to rotation. There is every reason to expect that the Earth's orbital speed should have no effect, but there is at least credible reason to believe that there should be a fringe shift due to the velocity around the Earth.
Therefore, the fringe shift (if it occurs) should be about 500 times as large as it would be on the surface of the Earth, provided that the light speed is constant with respect to the gravitational field.
Received 9 December 1994.

Rbsum6 Malgrk pr2s de cent ans d'un succ2s impressionnant et lefait qu'elle soit acceptke universellement par la plupart des physiciens, la thkorie de la relativitk restreinte d'Einstein (SRT)n 'estpas sans probl2mes. Quoique la majoritk de ces problgmes semble venir d'un
manque de preuves expkrimentales, quelques-uns semblent pointer vers une contradiction entre les expkn'ences et les prkdictions. Avant tout, la SRT est une thdorie de la relativitk codzjTke par les transformations de Lorentz (LE)h l'aide desquelles on peut convertir des coordonnkes d'un syst2me inertiel a un autre. Le fait qu'on n'ait jamais compark des mesures prises dans dew cadres de rkfkrence en mouvernent un par rapport h l'autre montre qu'au moins la maitit! de la thkorie n'est pas confinnke. De plus, la fameuse