A Probabilistic Method to Determine Whether the Speed of Light Is Constant
- 1 Department of Basic Science, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
Although the formula of mass-energy equivalence was derived from the hypothesis that the speed of light in free space is constant, conversely, the purpose of this research is to show that a method of probabilistically determining whether the speed of light is constant is derived from this formula. By considering the formula of mass-energy equivalence to be a function of the energy of an object moving at speed V , the probability density function (PDF) of the energy can be obtained using the inverse function of this formula, if the speed of light obeys a probability distribution. The main result is that the PDF of the energy diverges to infinity at a certain energy value regardless of the PDF of the speed of light. Thus, when the speed calculated from this value enters a certain range of the speed of light as V increases stepwise from below 299 , 792 , 458 m/s, the PDF of the energy should increase abruptly. If not, then the speed of light is constant. This is the method of probabilistically determining whether the speed of light is constant. An experimental method is proposed to confirm this.
- Einstein, A. (1905) Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig? Annalen der Physik, 323, 639-641. https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.19053231314
- Michelson, A.A. and Morley, E.W. (1887) On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether. American Journal of Science, 34, 333-345. https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s3-34.203.333
- Evenson, K.M., Wells, J.S., Petersen, F.R., Danielson, B.L. and Day, G.W. (1973) Accurate Frequencies of Molecular Transitions Used in Laser Stabilization: The 3.39-μm Transition in CH4 and the 9.33 - and 10.18-μm Transitions in CO2. Applied Physics Letter, 22, 192-195. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1654607
- Herrmann, S., Senger, A., Möhle, K., Nagel, M., Kovalchuk, E.V. and Peters, A. (2009) Rotating Optical Cavity Experiment Testing Lorentz Invariance at the 10 - 17 Level. Physical Review D, 80, Article ID: 105011. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.80.105011
- Giovannini1, D., Romero1, J., Potoček, V., Ferenczi, G., Speirits, F., Barnett, S.M., Faccio, D. and Padgett, M.J. (2015) Spatially Structured Photons That Travel in Free Space Slower than the Speed of Light. Science, 347, 857-860. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa3035