Fresnel Light-Drag Formula, Einstein’s Dual Theories of Time Dilation and the Amended Lorentz Transformation
[1]
Robert J. Buenker, Fachbereich C-Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaussstr. 20, Wuppertal, Germany.
The history of Fresnel’s light-drag formula is reviewed and its impact on relativity theory is assessed. Fizeau’s experimental results reported in 1851 not only demonstrated that light drag is a real effect, they also provided the first concrete indication that the speed of light in free space is independent of the state of motion of the source. This ultimately became one of the main justifications for Einstein’s second postulate of relativity and his ether-free description of light propagation. However, it is a little known fact that Einstein’s original work on relativity presented two distinct theories of time dilation. One is based on the Lorentz transformation (LT) and claims that a moving clock always runs slower than the observer’s stationary clock (symmetric theory). The other version assumes instead that accelerated clocks always run slower than their identical counterparts which remain at rest in the original position (asymmetric theory). It is pointed out that there have been numerous confirmations of the asymmetric theory, such as by using the transverse Doppler effect or comparing elapsed times on atomic clocks in various states of motion. The LT is only valid for uniformly translating systems and is therefore contradicted by these results because of its prediction of exclusively symmetric outcomes. It is shown that a different Lorentz-type transformation, referred to as the ALT or GPS-LT, exists which is compatible with asymmetric time dilation, and therefore with all known experiments. A degree of freedom in the definition of the general Lorentz transformation allows this goal to be readily achieved, while still satisfying Einstein’s light-speed postulate and the relativity principle (RP).
Fresnel Light-Drag Formula, Postulates of Special Relativity, Degree of Freedom in the Lorentz Transformation, Relativistic Velocity Transformation (RVT), Alternative Lorentz Transformation (ALT), Global Positioning System-Lorentz Transformation (GPS-LT), Amended Relativity Principle (ARP)
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