PT1 - Space Tests of Relativity |
Speaker_ |
Unnikrishnan, C-s |
Talk _ |
New measurements on the one-way speed of light and its relation to clock-comparison experiments |
Abstract _ |
I report on new measurements on the one-way speed of light relative to an inertially moving source-detector combination using an interferometric technique that does not require synchronization of distant clocks using light signals, thus avoiding the circularity in the logic of the special relativistic assertion of the absolute constancy of the speed of light relative to inertially moving observers. The technique also disentangles the Doppler shift and the issue of the speed of light, unlike in several other experiments where these two gets mixed up. It will be shown that these measurements are closely related to experiments on clock comparison, and I will draw some general conclusions regarding the overall consistency and empirical basis for the special theory of relativity. The results have important implications and interpretation in the context of our present day cosmology. |