Testing light speed invariance by measuring the one-way light speed on Earth
Gianfranco Spavieri, Espen Gaarder Haug
Abstract
We show that the one-way speed of light, along an open contour AB on the uniformly rotating Earth, is observable. Our approach exploits the property of the Sagnac effect that can measure the Earth's local angular velocity and, correspondingly, the peripheral speed of the contour AB relative to Earth Centered Inertial (ECI) frame. Light speed variations, measured on the rotating Earth, may be related to the velocity w of the ECI frame relative to a hypothetical preferred frame. Since it is possible to test Einstein's postulate of a universal light speed, standard special relativity is confirmed to be a viable falsifiable theory.
Topics & Concepts
One-way speed of lightSpeed of light (cellular automaton)Inertial frame of referenceTheory of relativitySagnac effectFrame (networking)EinsteinMeasure (data warehouse)PhysicsReference frameAngular velocityEarth's rotationObservableClassical mechanicsOpticsComputer scienceTest theories of special relativityQuantum mechanicsTelecommunicationsOptical fiberDatabaseFour-forceGeophysics and Sensor TechnologyRelativity and Gravitational TheoryAdvanced Frequency and Time Standards