Aether theories Aether theories Aether (also spelled ether) is a concept, historically, used in science (as a medium) and in philosophy (as a substance). The aether was believed to be the substance which filled all of space. Aristotle included it as a fifth element on the principle that nature abhorred a vacuum. Aether was also called quintessence (from quinta essentia, "fifth element"). ...more on Wikipedia about "Aether (classical element)"
Many modern physicists would tend to consider Einstein's concept of a "non-particulate aether" to be stretching the meaning of the word "aether" past reasonable limits, but the idea does have historical precedent, for instance, in Optiks Query 21, Isaac Newton pondered whether the aether in his new model ought to be considered to be particulate or not, and did not reach a decision "...for I do not know what this Aether is". ...more on Wikipedia about "Aether and general relativity"
The aether drag hypothesis was an early attempt to explain the way experiments such as Arago's experiment showed that the speed of light is constant. The aether drag hypothesis is now considered to be incorrect by mainstream science. ...more on Wikipedia about "Aether drag hypothesis"
In natural philosophy, aether (a.k.a. "ether") might be considered the stuff of space, or, universal medium (lit: "that which is between"). It carries signals, momentum, and energy between material objects separated by vacuum and consitutes that which makes up the objects themselves. In ancient times it was considered to be the fifth element quintessence, in addition to Earth, Air, Fire and Water. ...more on Wikipedia about "Aether theories"
The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in theosophy and New Age thought. It is understood as a sort of life force body or aura that constitutes the "blueprint" of the physical body, and which sustains the physical body. The term "etheric" in this context seems to derive from the writings of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant ( Adyar School of Theosophy). It is given an almost identical meaning by Barbara Brennan, who describes it as the first (lowest) layer in the "human energy field" or aura. ...more on Wikipedia about "Etheric body"
The etheric plane or etheric region is one of the planes of existence, or more specifically a subplane or planes, in Theosophy and New Age thought. According to C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant ( Adyar School of Theosophy), and Alice Bailey, the etheric plane constitutes the four higher subplanes of the physical plane, the lower three being the states of solid, liquid, and gaseous matter. ...more on Wikipedia about "Etheric plane"
The Fresnel drag coefficient is ...more on Wikipedia about "Fresnel drag coefficient"
See also: Special relativity ...more on Wikipedia about "History of special relativity"
The Kennedy-Thorndike experiment ('Experimental Establishment of the Relativity of Time'), first conducted in 1932, is a modified form of the Michelson-Morley experimental procedure. The modification is to make one arm of the classical MM apperatus very short. It served as a test for Special relativity to verify time dilation: according to special relativity, no phase shifts will be detected while the earth moves around the sun, while such would result from length contraction alone. ...more on Wikipedia about "Kennedy-Thorndike experiment"
In physics, what is nowadays called Lorentz ether theory (or "LET"), proposed that light was transmitted through a light medium in which the motion of objects did not cause dragging effects, but did cause objects to contract in their direction of motion ( Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction). This was used as an explanation of why the Michelson-Morley experiment had failed to detect an aether drag effect. ...more on Wikipedia about "Lorentz ether theory"
The Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction hypothesis was proposed by George FitzGerald and independently proposed and extended by Hendrik Lorentz to explain the negative result of the Michelson-Morley experiment, which attempted to detect Earth's motion relative to the luminiferous aether. ...more on Wikipedia about "Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction hypothesis"
In the late 19th century luminiferous aether ("light-bearing aether") was the term used to describe a medium for the propagation of light. Later theories including special relativity were formulated without the ether concept, and today the aether is considered to be an obsolete scientific theory. ...more on Wikipedia about "Luminiferous aether"
The Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment is a modified version of the Michelson-Morley experiment which tests the aether drag along the rotating frame of Earth. That is, if aether is dragged rotationally by the Earth, as was assumed by many, the Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment would be able to detect this effect. ...more on Wikipedia about "Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment"
The Michelson-Morley experiment, one of the most important and famous experiments in the history of physics, was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University, and is considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous aether. ...more on Wikipedia about "Michelson-Morley experiment"
In modern language, we can say that Newton's aether model was an early attempt at a "geometrical" theory of gravity, or a curved-space model. ...more on Wikipedia about "Newton's aether model"
In theoretical physics, a preferred or privileged frame is usually a special hypothetical frame of reference in which the laws of physics might appear to be identifiably different to those in other frames. ...more on Wikipedia about "Preferred frame"
Relativity of simultaneity means that events that are considered to be simultaneous in one reference frame are not simultaneous in another reference frame moving with respect to the first. For example imagine there were volcanoes located on Mars and Venus. We on earth may see these two volcanoes on the different planets erupt and conclude (after appropriate corrections for light travel) that the eruptions were simultaneous; we could calculate the Greenwich Mean Time at which the eruptions occurred. The inhabitants of a distant galaxy, travelling away from ours at a great speed, may one day observe these same eruptions and find that they were not simultaneous, that one occurred before the other. The concept of “simultaneous” or “simultaneity” is not an absolute, but a relative property – it depends on one’s frame of reference. ...more on Wikipedia about "Relativity of simultaneity"
The timeline of luminiferous aether begins in the late 19th century with the concept of the aether ("light-bearing aether"), or ether, as a medium for electromagnetic propagation. ...more on Wikipedia about "Timeline of luminiferous aether"
The Trouton-Noble experiment attempted to detect motion of the Earth through the luminiferous aether, and was conducted in 1901– 1903 by Frederick Thomas Trouton (who also developed the Trouton's ratio) and H. R. Noble. It was based on a suggestion by George FitzGerald that a charged parallel-plate capacitor moving through the aether should orient itself perpendicular to the motion. Like the earlier Michelson-Morley experiment, Trouton and Noble obtained a null result: no motion relative to the aether could be detected. ...more on Wikipedia about "Trouton-Noble experiment"
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