Natural Science Forum / Physics / Relativity / July 2006

SR F.O.P.I.

Two men on the planet Superstition wondered about the nature of light.
How was it transmitted from its sources? To answer their curiosity,
they used a device called interferometer in an experiment which later
was called MMX, the Magic Mystery Experiment. The interferometer had
two arms of equal length at a right angle to each other. Light was sent
along both arms, reflected by a mirror at the end of each arm and
returned to a common point where it was assumed the two light beams
would interfere.  It should prove that all space was filled with
something like invisible honey, a substance that vibrated as light
passed through it.

The two men set up the experiment in their laboratory, positioning one
of the arms in a direction parallel to the motion of the planet through
space and the other arm perpendicularly to it. The light travelling
over the parallel arm was believed to take a longer time than the light
travelling over the perpendicular arm. This was because the mirror at
the end of the parallel arm moved away from the light that was chasing
it while the mirror at the end of the perpendicular arm remained at the
same distance. When the experiment was conducted, the light took the
same time to arrive at the ends of both arms. No honey! Everybody who
had knowledge of these things was upset. Some wise old men then said if
the honey didn't work, it didn't exist. They came up with a clever
ruse to explain the absence of the honey. It was too bizarre to be true
but those who supported it were appointed to important posts and given
honours. The wise men said the length of the parallel arm had shortened
'in the direction of motion' through space and proportionally to
the speed of the interferometer to equalise with the length of the
other arm. This was called contraction. Likewise, time affecting the
device had to slow down. This was called time dilation. Contraction
allowed light to cover different distances in the same time because the
longer distance always reduced automatically to the smaller dimension.
This was called the principle of the constancy of light. In this way,
the wise men pronounced that contraction explained the null result of
the magic mystery experiment.

Contraction however required the interferometer to move strictly in a
straight line at all times to produce the exact amount of contraction
necessary to equalise the length of the two arms. But stationary
locations on earth are subject to five different motions through space:
rotation of the earth, planetary motion, stellar motion, galactic
motion and universe expansion motion. If the equipment is indeed
subject to contraction, the effect of all five actual motions on the
dimensions of the equipment will be unpredictable. This fact was
ignored by the wise men. They stubbornly insisted 'the direction of
motion' is invariably a straight line and contraction applies only to
the parallel arm in the exact amount.

Furthermore, decreeing that only contraction of the parallel arm would
explain the null result of MMX was arbitrary. The same result could be
achieved if instead of contraction of the parallel arm an expansion of
the perpendicular arm had been stipulated. In either case, the length
of the two arms would be equal and the time of the light to travel over
the two arms would be the same as indeed the experiment had shown,
albeit for different reasons. If the formula 'sqrt(1-vv/cc)'
applied to the parallel arm were to be replaced by the formula
'sqrt(1+vv/cc)' and applied to the perpendicular arm, the
experiment would have shown the same result but with different
implications. Instead of parallel arm contraction, time dilation and
mass increase, perpendicular arm expansion, time contraction and mass
decrease would have ensued. But all this was ignored by the wise men.
They didn't even think of it.

Furthermore, contraction and time dilation dictated that the speed of
light had to be constant under any condition. As an example, starting
from the same point in the universe and moving in the same direction,
two spaceships travelling at 50000m/sec and 100000m/sec respectively
would be overtaken at the same time by a light beam sent after them
some time later. This paradox was explained that 'at the same time'
did not mean 'at the same time', using circular arguments.

The findings of the magic mystery experiment were applied to every
object in the universe. The length and clock rate of every object
depended on its speed. The observed dimensions and times however never
changed if the observer had the same speed as the observed object
because his measuring rods and clocks would also change with the new
speed. If however the object was measured by an observer travelling at
a different speed, this observer would measure the dimensions of and on
the other object according to his own rods and the clock rate according
to his own clocks.

Anybody doubting the decrees of the wise old men was excluded from
Sanctus Religio, the Faith Of Pure Illogic, SR F.O.P.I.  However, there
remained a small group of individuals who had the capacity to think
clearly and freely. They asked questions about a physical object, the
cube. The dimensions of the cube were 100m x 100m x 100m on
Superstition. In their minds, the thinkers sent it to a star in the
universe as a spaceship. As it travelled away, its length and measuring
sticks according to SR F.O.P.I. would contract and its time and clocks
would slow down. As an example, a distance of one meter measured on the
cube on Superstition would be reduced to 90cm and a second to 900
milliseconds as it sped away at a certain speed.

What were the real dimensions of the cube in flight in this example?
Observers on the cube (the cubists) measured them to be 100x100x100m.
Observers on Superstition (the superstitious) would insist on
90x100x100m. The cubists could see a light signal sent from a corner of
the cube to the opposite corner parallel to the direction of motion
arriving at the same time as one sent to the opposite corner on a
perpendicular path. According to SR F.O.P.I., anyone on Superstition
would make the same observation despite the length of the cube having
been reduced to 90m while width and height remained at 100m. How could
the speed of light be constant under all conditions and yet cover
different distances in the same time? Well, the dogma of the constancy
of light demanded it and the facts had to conform to it. Again,
circular arguments, spurious assertions and vague references to
experiments which at best were inconclusive, at worst misrepresented
were used to prove it.

The thinkers asked how long were the measuring rods on the cube as it
moved through space, 90cm or 1m? If aligned in the direction of motion,
were they 90cm long but 1m long if aligned perpendicular to the motion?
At any other alignment between the parallel and perpendicular axis
would they be differently sized, according to the angle? What if the
speed changed? Would the size of a rod not depend on this speed as well
as on the alignment towards the parallel axis? How many differently
calibrated rods were necessary to measure everything on the cube at any
time and under any condition? Or was there only one rod which changed
invisibly in real length as it was moved around inside the cube or the
cube changed speed? What was the force that caused the change and how
was it controlled?

Time dilation was just as contentious as contraction. On Superstition,
a second was exactly one second long. However, at the given speed in
our example, a second anywhere inside the moving cube, as measured from
Superstition, was only .9 seconds long. While a meter could be anything
from .9m to 1m, a second was always reduced to .9 seconds everywhere on
the cube. The shortened cube second was sufficient for light to cover
the contracted cube distance of 90m parallel to the motion but not long
enough to traverse the unchanged perpendicular distance of 100m. Again,
the constancy principle had been violated. It was pointed out to the SR
F.O.P.I. gurus. They mumbled something about world time lines, time
incongruities and similar esoterics.

The wise men had also pronounced that the absolute speed of any object
in the universe couldn't be told. While the speed of the cube was
known relative to planet Superstition, the absolute speed was unknown.
It could be less or more than the relative speed. However, the rods and
clocks aboard would only shrink or vary according to the relative
speed, ignoring completely the absolute speed.

The wise men furthermore declared that no observer had preference over
another. So every object with a different speed from an observer would
be seen as having different seconds and different non-perpendicular
meters. Perpendicular meters however remained always the same even
though this fact was only implied; never considered or mentioned.
Generally, it appears that a multitude, nay infinity of measuring rods
and clocks is required on every object in the universe to allow
measuring any dimension on every other object to which it has a
different speed and angular attitude.

The thinkers asked another question: If the cube approached
Superstition instead of speeding away from it, would meters and seconds
increase? The followers of SR F.O.P.I. did not know for sure but said
it made no difference. They decided the thinkers asked too many
questions and hastened to appoint Kommissars to enforce political
correctness in science. Enquiry, discussion and progress were inhibited
but the stability of believe systems remained safe for a long time.

Peter Riedt