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The Dawn of Modern Physics 2

The Dawn of Modern Physics 2. Topics. In Search of the Aether Lorentz and Fitzgerald Summary. In Search of the Aether. Michelson’s clever idea: Speed of water relative to bank V m/s Speed of swimmers relative to water C m/s One swimmer is bound to win. b. l. a. c. l.

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The Dawn of Modern Physics 2

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  1. The Dawn of Modern Physics2

  2. Topics • In Search of the Aether • Lorentz and Fitzgerald • Summary

  3. In Search of the Aether Michelson’s clever idea: Speed of water relative to bank V m/s Speed of swimmers relative to water C m/s One swimmer is bound to win b l a c l

  4. l In Search of the Aether Swimmer 1 l Swimmer 2 l View relative to water

  5. In Search of the Aether Swimmer 1 l Swimmer 2 l l

  6. In Search of the Aether Swimmer 1 total time Swimmer 2 total time

  7. In Search of the Aether Michelson Experiment (1881) Michelson-Morley Experiment (1887) http://erwin.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109/lectures/michelson.html

  8. In Search of the Aether Light path 1 Light path 2

  9. In Search of the Aether The time difference between the two light paths is where

  10. In Search of the Aether “The interpretation of these results is that there is no displacement of the interference bands. … The result of the hypothesis of a stationary aether is thus shown to be incorrect.” A. A. Michelson, Am. J. Sci., 122, 120 (1881)

  11. …but Michelson’s results were regarded, even by Michelson, as curious puzzles that would soon be resolved…

  12. “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.” Lord Kelvin, 1900

  13. Lorentz and Fitzgerald Fitzgerald (1851-1901) Lorentz (1853-1928) http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians

  14. Their Solution The time for light path 1 is can be made equal to if, for path 2, the path length shrinks by

  15. Summary • Michelson and Morley failed to detect the motion of the Earth through the aether • Their conclusion: the aether could not be stationary. But this implied that the aether moves along with the Earth, an hypothesis that was shown to be untenable • Lorentz and later Fitzgerald suggested that objects contract along the direction of motion in such a way as to make DT = 0

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