Eur. Phys. J. C 21, 701-715 (2001)
DOI: 10.1007/s100520100759
A local-ether model of propagation of electromagnetic wave
C.-C. SuDepartment of Electrical Engineering, National Tsinghua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
(Received: 11 January 2001 / Revised version: 10 May 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001 -© Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica 2001)
Abstract
It is pointed out that the classical propagation model
can be in accord with the Sagnac effect due to earth's rotational
and
orbital motions in the high-precision GPS (global positioning
system) and
interplanetary radar, if the reference frame of the classical
propagation
medium is endowed with a switchability according to the location
of the wave.
Accordingly, it is postulated that, as in the obsolete theory,
electromagnetic waves propagate via a medium like the ether.
However,
the ether
is not universal. It is proposed that in the region under sufficient
influence of the gravity due to the earth, the sun, or another
celestial
body, there forms a local ether, which in turn is stationary
with respect to the
gravitational potential of the respective body. For earthbound
and
interplanetary propagation, the medium is stationary in a geocentric
and a
heliocentric inertial frame, respectively. An electromagnetic
wave
propagates
at a constant speed with respect to the associated local ether,
independent
of the motions of source and receiver. Based on this local-ether
model of
wave propagation, a wide variety of earthbound, interplanetary,
and
interstellar propagation phenomena are accounted for. Strong
evidence of
this new classical model is its consistent account of the Sagnac
effect due
to earth's motions among GPS, the intercontinental microwave
link, and the
interplanetary radar. Moreover, as examined within the present
precision,
this model is still in accord with the Michelson-Morley experiment.
To test
the local-ether propagation model, a one-way-link rotor experiment
is
proposed.
© Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2001
