The Aether: Empirical Evidence, Functional Definition and Realistic Conceptualization

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Scientific Paper
Title The Aether: Empirical Evidence, Functional Definition and Realistic Conceptualization
Author(s) John E Chappell
Keywords Aether
Published 1999
Journal None

Abstract

Sagnac's experiment (1913) and many repeats thereof. including constant examples from GPS satellites, have provided strong evidence in support of the aether's existence that Michelson and Morley did not provide in 1887. They tell us that the velocity of a light beam remains fixed relative to a preferred coordinate system (cs), while the cs of the source of the beam rotates relative to the preferred cs. Something has the function of fixing this velocity; although we may know nothing of its nature, we can still identify and name it on the basis of this function. We do the same in the case of gravity. Conceptualizing about the nature of the aether is most reliably done by sticking to known facts. Space is seething with photons that are more abundant in the lower energy ranges (Grote Reber). These photons may be the prime component of the aether. The passage of a comparatively high-energy photon. along a zigzag path, delivers energy to a receiver and also induces wave motion in the aether (Steven Rado argues that a gaseous aether can support waves that are not strictly transverse).