Robin van Spaandonk
Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:30:35 -0700
In reply to Stephen A. Lawrence's message of Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:36:23 -0400: Hi Stephen, [snip] >> Perhaps it becomes easier to accept, if it is not a matter of ploughing >> *through* the medium. Consider how a wave passes through water. The energy of >> the wave is passed from molecule to molecule, but the molecules themselves >> don't >> actually go very far. Maybe the aether works the same way. Particles (e.g. >> electrons) are then *patterns* in the aether. The pattern can move, simply >> through the transfer of energy, without the aether itself moving. > > >But then it seems like this would lead to an issue with "aether >dragging", doesn't it? Classical aether theories can't be reconciled >with the results of the Fizeau, Michelson-Morley, and Sagnac experiments >unless there is partial or complete "dragging" of the aether along with >the Earth. If the Earth itself is just a pattern traveling through the >aether that doesn't seem like a very obvious thing to have happen. [snip] I don't see why there can't be some aether dragging, after all, waves do move molecules to some extent, just not much. Perhaps this depends on the extent to which the aether is frictionless? Regards, Robin van Spaandonk The shrub is a plant.