What is now often called Lorentz ether theory (LET) has its roots in Hendrik Lorentz's "theory of electrons", which marked the end of the development of the classical aether theories at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century.
Lorentz's initial theory was created between 1892 and 1895 and was based on removing assumptions about aether motion. It explained the failure of the negative aether drift experiments to first order in v/c by introducing an auxiliary variable called "local time" for connecting systems at rest and in motion in the aether. In addition, the negative result of the Michelson–Morley experiment led to the introduction of the hypothesis of length contraction in 1892. However, other experiments also produced negative results and (guided by Henri Poincaré's principle of relativity) Lorentz tried in 1899 and 1904 to expand his theory to all orders in v/c by introducing the Lorentz transformation. In addition, he assumed that non-electromagnetic forces (if they exist) transform like electric forces. However, Lorentz's expression for charge density and current were incorrect, so his theory did not fully exclude the possibility of detecting the aether. Eventually, it was Henri Poincaré who in 1905 corrected the errors in Lorentz's paper and actually incorporated non-electromagnetic forces (including gravitation) within the theory, which he called "The New Mechanics". Many aspects of Lorentz's theory were incorporated into special relativity (SR) with the works of Albert Einstein and Hermann Minkowski.
Today LET is often treated as some sort of "Lorentzian" or "neo-Lorentzian" interpretation of special relativity.[1] The introduction of length contraction and time dilation for all phenomena in a "preferred" frame of reference, which plays the role of Lorentz's immobile aether, leads to the complete Lorentz transformation (see the Robertson–Mansouri–Sexl test theory as an example), so Lorentz covariance doesn't provide any experimentally verifiable distinctions between LET and SR. The absolute simultaneity in the Mansouri–Sexl test theory formulation of LET[2] implies that a one-way speed of light experiment could in principle distinguish between LET and SR, but it is now widely held that it is impossible to perform such a test. In the absence of any way to experimentally distinguish between LET and SR, SR is widely preferred over LET, due to the superfluous assumption of an undetectable aether in LET, and the validity of the relativity principle in LET seeming ad hoc or coincidental.
^Einstein, relativity and absolute simultaneity. Craig, William Lane., Smith, Quentin, 1952-. London: Routledge. 2008. ISBN 9780415701747. OCLC 69020927.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Mansouri R.; Sexl R.U. (1977). "A test theory of special relativity. I: Simultaneity and clock synchronization". Gen. Rel. Gravit. 8 (7): 497–513. Bibcode:1977GReGr...8..497M. doi:10.1007/BF00762634. S2CID 67852594.
and 25 Related for: Lorentz ether theory information
coefficients and physical assumptions. Lorentz and FitzGerald offered within the framework of Lorentzethertheory a more elegant solution to how the motion...
acceleration of electrons. Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald offered, within the framework of Lorentzethertheory, an explanation of how the Michelson–Morley...
the Zeeman effect. He derived the Lorentz transformation of the special theory of relativity, as well as the Lorentz force, which describes the combined...
principle of relativity". Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1904) created a detailed theory of electrodynamics (Lorentzethertheory) that was premised on the existence...
the theory of special relativity in 1905, building on many theoretical results and empirical findings obtained by Albert A. Michelson, Hendrik Lorentz, Henri...
speed of light is constant. Without assuming the second postulate, the Lorentz transformations can be obtained. However, there is a free parameter k,...
History of the theories of ether and electricity from 1953, E. T. Whittaker claimed that relativity is the creation of Poincaré and Lorentz and attributed...
Maxwell–Lorentz electromagnetic theory, in which he contended that the theory's connection with the luminescent ether (see Lorentzethertheory) made it...
time Apparent solar time Local time (mathematics) Local time in the Lorentzethertheory Standard time UTC GMT Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University...
experiment in accordance with Maxwell's equations, Lorentz in 1892 developed a model ("Lorentzethertheory") in which the aether is completely motionless...
property of ionizing radiation's interactions with matter Lorentzethertheory, a scientific theory LET solution or gel, a topical anesthetic consisting of...
Maxwell-Lorentz electromagnetic theory, in which he contended that the theory's connection with the luminiferous aether (see Lorentzethertheory) made...
synchronizations are much more complicated, and those other models (such as Lorentzethertheory) are based on extreme and implausible assumptions concerning some...
verify the time dilation effect, predicted by Larmor–Lorentzethertheory, due to motion through the ether using Einstein's suggestion that Doppler effect...
formed.” Parallel to the development of Lorentzethertheory, Larmor published an approximation to the Lorentz transformations in the Philosophical Transactions...
noticed the similarity between this test theory and Lorentz ethertheory of Hendrik Lorentz, Joseph Larmor and Henri Poincaré. Though Mansouri, Sexl, and...
and the magnetic fields. Lorentz began by abandoning the Maxwellian descriptions of the ether and conduction. Instead, Lorentz made a distinction between...
velocity. This was further elaborated by Hendrik Lorentz (1899, 1904) in the framework of Lorentzethertheory. He defined mass as the ratio of force to acceleration...
consequence, within Lorentzethertheory the Galilean transformation was replaced by the Lorentz transformation. However, in Lorentz aether theory the existence...
relativity (see History of Lorentz transformations and Lorentzethertheory). A more modern example of deriving the Lorentz transformation from electrodynamics...
However, space and time took on new meanings with the Lorentz transformation and special theory of relativity. In 1908, Hermann Minkowski presented a...
own rest frame. It is also known as Lorentz contraction or Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction (after Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald) and is...