Physics – General Physics
Scientific paper
2008-07-11
Physics
General Physics
6 pages
Scientific paper
In the eighteenth century, the magnitude of the speed of light was first determined and proven to be finite against the contemporary view, independently by Ole Romer and Bradley. Einstein in the post-Maxwellian era, sensed that the tide of discoveries in electro-magnetism indicated a decline of the mechanical view, and replaced Newton's three absolutes -- mass, time and space, with a single one, the speed of light, which thus gained a more important status amongst the fundamental constants of nature. In 1849, Fizeau performed the first successful measurement of the speed of light using an earthbound apparatus. Many earthbound experiments were conducted later for determination of its magnitude till 1983, when it was frozen at a fixed value after determining it at an accuracy level of a fraction of a meter per second. More than half a century before the advent of space age, when perhaps it was unconceivable to do experiments for its determination in laboratories beyond the earth, Einstein had to adopt its terrestrial value to be the limiting speed of all natural phenomena, while formulating his relativity theories. Einstein later stated that light rays could curve only when its velocity of propagation varied with position. Many experiments have been conducted to prove light deflection to improved levels of precision, but none so far to determine the speed of light at locations closer to sun. To verify important aspects of general relativity, NASA had commendably planned many costly experiments, and hence, can now be expected to expeditiously plan and execute a low cost experiment proposed here, so as to verify the effect of solar gravitational field on the speed of light.
Biswas Abhijit
Mani Krishnan RS
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