Hi all,
Most of us have deep respect for Tesla's work. Afaik, Tesla never accepted relativity. So, every now and then I look a bit into ether physics, and today I found this website: Dr Charles Kenneth Thornhill
This contains some papers by Dr. Charles Kenneth Thornhill.
An excerpt from http://www.etherphysics.net/CKT1.pdf :
"The question, whether or not there is a physical ethereal medium in which
electromagnetic waves propagate, has been asked for many centuries. On the
one hand, there have always been those who have maintained that it is not
a sensible question to ask, since radiation is observed to have many physical
properties and cannot, therefore, exist in a true vacuum or void which is, by
definition, the total absence of anything physical. On the other hand, for about
the last hundred years, it has come to be largely accepted that there is no
physical ethereal medium, and the physical properties of radiation have been
transmogrified into waves, and energy parcels or photons, in a space-time metric.
The arguments for the denial of a physical ethereal medium are manifold
(see, for example, Whittaker1). One of these asserts that Maxwell’s equations
show that electromagnetic waves are transverse and that, therefore, any ethereal
medium must behave like an elastic solid. This argument is invalid, since
Maxwell’s equations only show that the oscillating electric and magnetic fields
are transverse to the direction of wave propagation, and can say nothing whatsoever
about any condensational oscillations of any possible physical medium
in which the waves are propagating. In fact, the deduction, from Maxwell’s
equations, that electromagnetic waves are entirely transverse, is no more than
a restatement of an assumption that there is no physical ethereal medium. On
the contrary, if there is such a medium, one would deduce from Maxwell’s equa-
tions, since electric field, magnetic field and motion are mutually perpendicular
for plane waves, that its condensational oscillations are longitudinal, in exact
analogy with sound waves in a fluid."
I have looked into some of his papers, and they appear to be rock solid. An interesting read and maybe interesting to discuss also.
Most of us have deep respect for Tesla's work. Afaik, Tesla never accepted relativity. So, every now and then I look a bit into ether physics, and today I found this website: Dr Charles Kenneth Thornhill
This contains some papers by Dr. Charles Kenneth Thornhill.
An excerpt from http://www.etherphysics.net/CKT1.pdf :
"The question, whether or not there is a physical ethereal medium in which
electromagnetic waves propagate, has been asked for many centuries. On the
one hand, there have always been those who have maintained that it is not
a sensible question to ask, since radiation is observed to have many physical
properties and cannot, therefore, exist in a true vacuum or void which is, by
definition, the total absence of anything physical. On the other hand, for about
the last hundred years, it has come to be largely accepted that there is no
physical ethereal medium, and the physical properties of radiation have been
transmogrified into waves, and energy parcels or photons, in a space-time metric.
The arguments for the denial of a physical ethereal medium are manifold
(see, for example, Whittaker1). One of these asserts that Maxwell’s equations
show that electromagnetic waves are transverse and that, therefore, any ethereal
medium must behave like an elastic solid. This argument is invalid, since
Maxwell’s equations only show that the oscillating electric and magnetic fields
are transverse to the direction of wave propagation, and can say nothing whatsoever
about any condensational oscillations of any possible physical medium
in which the waves are propagating. In fact, the deduction, from Maxwell’s
equations, that electromagnetic waves are entirely transverse, is no more than
a restatement of an assumption that there is no physical ethereal medium. On
the contrary, if there is such a medium, one would deduce from Maxwell’s equa-
tions, since electric field, magnetic field and motion are mutually perpendicular
for plane waves, that its condensational oscillations are longitudinal, in exact
analogy with sound waves in a fluid."
I have looked into some of his papers, and they appear to be rock solid. An interesting read and maybe interesting to discuss also.
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