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The current philosophy is uncertainty principle.
Has anybody actually meaured a statistical variation on the speed of light?
At what point from quantum level up does uncertainty arise?
The concept of introduction of uncertainty seems to be a given rather than explanation and the parameters that may attribute to it seem to be rather fixed.
Has anybody tried to ascertain the point at which uncertainty is inherent and written any papers on it?

2007-12-07 05:48:24 · 6 answers · asked by interested_party 4 in Science & Mathematics Physics

I know very well that it is an 'open issue'.

The fact it is an 'open issue' should generate a lot of scientific interest, whereas there seems to be a severe cas of burying ones head in the sand.

It is something I have always been interested in but have not been endowed with a job allowing me to persue it. Surely, it must me a gateway to understanding much much more.

2007-12-07 07:22:21 · update #1

6 answers

To be more precise, the speed of light (in a vacuum) is invariant, that is, it is constant regardless of your frame of reference (doesn't depend on how fast you're traveling, or how large of a gravitational field you're in).

There is no variation in the actual speed of light (in a vacuum). Your measurements may show variation but are only a product of uncertainty in the measurement or due to the uncertainty principle.

There is speculation as to whether the speed of light (in a vacuum) is not constant, but none of these ideas have been verified: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_speed_of_light

2007-12-07 09:54:07 · answer #1 · answered by z08595 2 · 0 0

The issue of uncertainty: inherent or not. Is - to some extent -still an open issue.

The famous EPR paper published in 1935 by Einstein Podolosky and Rosen is a cornerstone in this context.

Theoretician JS Bell reframed this into a decisive quantitatively testable framework.

Followup elaborations of this subject - most recently by experimenter anton zwellinger prove the traditional quantum mechanics claim - of inherent uncertainty - to be correct.

Nevertheless, "hidden variable" theories, implying some sort of determinism - most notable by david bohm - appear to provide a different insight.

Uncertainty - has been "measured" in various fundamental contexts, such as the key "explanation" for the stability of the atom or the casimir effect.

Searching the web under keywords extracted from this very short description - can provide further insight.

2007-12-07 06:06:43 · answer #2 · answered by ReshitMada 2 · 0 0

think of abour the exterior of the earth, wich is nearly around. for each place on that floor, we can supply a different area description in variety and longitude. yet no count the place we holiday, we under no circumstances come to a boundary of that floor. whether we climb a intense mountain, or go up in an airplane, we are residing interior approximately 10 kilometres of the exterior, and on a huge scale, we expect of of the international in 2 dimensions. only astronauts have somewhat left the international, by ability of travelling outward by using a 0.33 direction, perpindicular to the exterior. For the main area, we only would desire to consult 2 dimensions to describe any area (eg, Sydney is 34 levels south, 151 levels east; manhattan is approximately 40 two levels north, seventy 3 levels west). the exterior of the earth is finite, and can be measured (approximately 500 billion sq. kilometres); besides the undeniable fact that it has no boundary. For a flat-earther, the exterior of the international would desire to pass on perpetually. we want the 0.33 length, perpindiclar to variety and longitude, to coach they are incorrect. interior an identical way; all of us comprehend that the universe for us is 3 dimensional. we don't comprehend, because of the fact of our very own tiny scale in comparison with the quantity of the universe, whether those 3 dimensions have a boundary; or in the event that they are curved, like the exterior of a sphere; and we would then want a fourth length; parallel to the different 3 to work out it. some cosmological theories count on the universe being finite yet unbounded ('helpful curvature). this would be mandatory, if the enlargement of the universe finally have been to decelerate, and the universe give way returned. In different theories, the three dimensions are consistent (no curvature)and the universe is infinite and unbounded, and could go on increasing perpetually. In nevertheless different theories, the three dimensions acually escalate the further away we holiday ('unfavorable curvature'). those are examples of what's defined because of the fact the curvature of area.

2016-11-13 23:49:10 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

I would say that the speed of light is absolute and unchanging (in a vacuum).

Any statistical variation in observed measurements is a result of the uncertainty principle acting upon the observer and his/her measuring instruments.

2007-12-07 08:33:37 · answer #4 · answered by Greg K 3 · 0 0

no. This speed of light is absolute.
It is even the same if you measure in both directions driving your car. That was the basic observation made before developing the relativistic theory.

2007-12-07 06:08:54 · answer #5 · answered by anordtug 6 · 0 0

hmm. on the first bit, the metre has a definition which is linked to the speed of light, the second has its own definition, and given that everyone is into relativity i dont see how the speed of light could be anything but fixed, given current definitions of things

2007-12-07 05:57:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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