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1、MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUTFÜRWISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTEMaxPlanckInstitutefortheHistoryofScience2004PREPRINT265MichelJanssenandJohnStachelTheOpticsandElectrodynamicsofMovingBodies*THEOPTICSANDELECTRODYNAMICSOFMOVINGBODIESMichelJanssenandJohnStachelINTRODUCTORYSURVEYTh
2、etitleofthispaperwillimmediatelyremindmostmodernreadersof“OntheElectrodynamicsofMovingBodies,”the1905paperinwhichAlbertEinstein(1879–1955)firstintroducedthespecialtheoryofrelativity.Thedevelopmentsin19thcenturyethertheorytobediscussedinthischapterwereessent
3、ialtothedevelopmentofEinstein’stheory,acircumstancethathasalmostinevitablyshapedourpresentationtoacertainextent.Itisouraim,however,todiscussthesedevelopmentsintheirownright.Ourfocuswillbeonaspecificissueintheopticsandelectrodynamicsofthe19thcentury.Forcompr
4、ehensivediscussionoftheseimportantfieldsin19thcenturyphysics,werefertootherarticlesinthisvolume.Whatwillconcernushereisthequestionofthestateofmotionoftheether,thehypotheticalmediumthoughttocarrylightwaves,ormoregenerally,asonecametobelieveinthesecondhalfoft
5、hecentury,electromagneticfields.Istheetherimmobileandcompletelyundisturbedbymattermovingthroughit,ordoesmovingmatterdragalong—inwholeorinpart—theetherinitsvicinityand/orinitsinterior?Thephenomenonofstellaraberrationstronglysuggestedtheformeralternative;orra
6、theravariantofitinwhichmostoftheetherisimmobilewhiletransparentmattercarriesalongsome.AugustinJeanFresnel(1788–1827)introducedthisvariantin1818.Althoughthephysicalmechanismunderlyingtheetherdrageffectremainedunclear,itcametobegenerallyacceptedthatinordertor
7、endertheearth’spresumedmotionthroughtheimmobileetherinvisibleonehastoassumethatalltransparentmatterdragsalonganylightpropagatingthroughitwithafractionofitsownvelocity.Thisfraction,whichdependsonlyontheindexofrefraction,iscalledtheFresnel(dragging)coefficien
8、t.Theeffectensuredthat,withinthelimitsofaccuracythenattainable,terrestrialopticsfollowsthesamelawsthatwouldholdinaframeofreferenceinwhichthe(bulkofthe)etherisatrest,andthusexplainedtheconsistentlynegat
