The Michelson and Morley 1887 Experiment and the Discovery of Absolute Motion
| dc.creator | Cahill, Reginald T. | |
| dc.date | 2005-08-24 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T06:30:58Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T06:30:58Z | |
| dc.description | Physics textbooks assert that in the famous interferometer 1887 experiment to detect absolute motion Michelson and Morley saw no rotation-induced fringe shifts - the signature of absolute motion; it was a null experiment. However this is incorrect. Their published data revealed to them the expected fringe shifts, but that data gave a speed of some 8km/s using a Newtonian theory for the calibration of the interferometer, and so was rejected by them solely because it was less than the 30km/s orbital speed of the earth. A 2002 post relativistic-effects analysis for the operation of the device however gives a different calibration leading to a speed >300km/s. So this experiment detected both absolute motion and the breakdown of Newtonian physics. So far another six experiments have confirmed this first detection of absolute motion in 1887. | |
| dc.description | Latex, 11 pages, 5 eps figures | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508174 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508174 | |
| dc.identifier | Progr.Phys. 3 (2005) 25-29 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/98480 | |
| dc.subject | General Physics | |
| dc.title | The Michelson and Morley 1887 Experiment and the Discovery of Absolute Motion | |
| dc.type | text |