Marinov's Toothed-Wheels Measurement of Absolute Velocity of Solar System

 Marinov's Toothed-Wheels Measurement of Absolute Velocity of Solar System.

J.P.Wesley.

Weiherdammstrasse 24, 7712 Blumberg, West Germany.

Abstract: Marinov reports measuring the absolute velocity of the closed

laboratory using two toothed wheels mounted on the ends of a rotating shaft.

Light incident on the first toothed wheel is chopped. As it arrives at the

second toothed wheel later, due to the finite time it takes light to travel

down the shaft, it is again chopped by the second toothed wheel. The amount of

light that gets through measures the oneway time-of-flight velocity of light

in the direction of the shaft. By directly comparing the results for beams

travelling in opposite directions the absolute velocity is directly measured,

v = ((c+v)-(c-v))/2. He reports the absolute velocity of the solar system as

v = 360 +- 40 km/s, alfa = 12 +- 1 h, delta = - 24 +- 7 deg, in agreement

with the results from the 2.7K cosmic background anisotropy and Marinov's

coupled mirrors experiment. The errors he reports are consistent with his

experimental setup and procedure.

1. INTRODUCTION

  It is of considerable importance to examine Marinov's claim(1):

i) It contradicts SPECIAL RELATIVITY, which assumes the velocity of light is

uniquely c fixed relative to the moving observer.

ii) It provides an additional independent measurement of the absolute

velocity of the solar system.

Considering point i) above there exists considerable dissatisfaction with

SPECIAL RELATIVITY already (2-7). It would also seem that the observations of

Roemer and Bradley(8,9), the Sagnac experiment(10), the 2.7K cosmic

background anisotropy(11), and the Marinov coupled mirrors experiment(12)

give firm evidence that the velocity of energy propagation of light is, in

fact, c fixed relative to absolute space. In addition, assuming absolute

space exists, it would appear that a moving observer must see two wave

velocities for light, the phase velocity and the velocity of energy

propagation, and not simply a single unique wave velocity of light as is

usually assumed(13). These two wave velocities need not have the same

magnitude nor direction. It is, thus, very impotant to know if more

independent experimental evidence is now available that can confirm the fact

that the velocity of energy propagation of light is c fixed relative to

absolute space.

Considering point ii) above, presently the only two reliable determinations

of the absolute velocity of the solar system are 1) the anisotropy of the

2.7K cosmic background radiation 2) the Marinov coupled mirrors experiment.

(12).The 2.7K background anisotropy provides one place accuracy. The Marinov

coupled mirrors experiment provides slightly better accuracy; although with

little difficulty it can be readily improved to give two, three or even four

place accuracy(14). The Marinov toothed wheel experiment provides still a

third independent method for determining the absolute velocity of the solar

system. He reports one place accuracy; but it would appear that with some

minor improvements that two place accuracy might easily be obtained. It is of

some interest to know the absolute velocity of the solar system to as great

an accuracy as possible; as three place accuracy might provide the chance of

detecting dark neighbours to the solar system.

The primary purpose of this paper is to provide a short understandable and

readily available description and critique of Marinov's toothed wheel

experiment, Marinov's own account(1) being neither clear nor readily

available. It is hoped that this presentation might encourage an independent

repetition of this important experiment.

2. MARINOV'S EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT (1)

Two toothed wheels consisting of 40 round holes of diameter b = 6 millimeters

drilled equi-angular distance from each other at a radial distance R = 12 cm

from the center of two circular steel plates were mounted on a common shaft d

= 120 cm from each other as indicated in Fig. 1. The shaft was driven at the

center by a variable speed motor, N revolutions per second. An Argon laser

illuminated the holes on the entrance wheel. A silicon photocell detected the

light passing out of the exit wheel. The entire apparatus was enclosed in a

vacuum.

<Illustration showing two lasers and two photocells and a wheatsone bridge,

and the shaft and the plates>

Fig.1. A diagram of the Marinov toothed-wheel experiment to measure the

absolute velocity of the closed laboratory.

3.THEORY FOR ONEWAY TIME-OF-FLIGHT VELOCITY OF LIGHT

Although the present paper is concerned with the direct measurement of the

absolute velocity of the closed laboratory; and it is not concerned with the

measurement of the oneway time-of-flight velocity of light; in order to

develop the theory and to indicate how possible errors may be estimated it is

convenient to first present the hypothetical example of how one might measure

the oneway time-of-flight velocity of light.

It might be thought that one need merely measure the oneway time-of-flight

velocity of light in two opposite directions and by subtracting them obtain

the absolute velocity of the laboratory. This is in principle possible; but

in practice the experimental errors for the measurement of the one-way

time-of-flight velocity in either direction are too large.It is only by

balancing the two results directly in a Wheatstone bridge that significance

can be obtained; and the absolute velocity of the laboratory can be

measured.

The rotating entrance wheel chops the light beam. The rotating exit wheel

chops this signal again but at a later time dt, the time for a pulse of light

to travel down the length of the shaft d. If the observed time-of-flight

velocity of light in the direction of the shaft is c*, then

   dt = d / c*   (1)

If the time-of-flight velocity of light is fixed as c relative to absolute

space, then

   c* = c - vd  (2)

where vd is the component of the absolute velocity of the laboratory in the

direction of the shaft.

The two wheels, being rigidly mounted to the same shaft, can be optically

aligned by simply altering the inclination of the light beam relative to the

axis of rotation. If the beam is aligned to achieve a certain intensity Io

(chosen as one half of maximum intensity, Io = Imax/2, to optimize the

sensitivity) when N = 0, then the intensity must change as N increases and as

the alignment of the entrance and exit holes changes relative to the chopped

light pulse. Ideally for square holes of width b that can be perfectly

aligned the fractional change in intensity is simply proportional to the

fractional mismatch created by the time it takes the light to travel between

the two toothed wheels; thus,

  dI/Io = 2 db/b  (3)

where

  db = 2 pi R N dt  (4)

It may be readily appreciated that for round holes and including possible

effects from diffraction and vibrations dI/Io, will be simply a linear

function of 2 db / b, if dI / Io is small, as is the case. In general then

Eq. (3) may be replaced by

  dI/Io = 2 K db / b (5)

where K is some konstant of proportionality. If this constant of

proportionality were desired, it could be measured directly or it could be

estimated theoretically. Combining Eqs. (1), (4), and (5) then gives the

oneway time-of-flight velocity of light as (15)

  c* = (K Io / dI) ( 4 pi R N d / b)  (6)

4. THEORY TO FIND THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY OF THE LABORATORY

Marinov sent simultaneously laser beams in opposite directions through his

toothed wheel apparatus which were detected by two independent photocells, as

shown in Fig. 1. He measured the difference ddI in the intensities

registered by the two photocells directly using a Wheatstone bridge for the

outputs. Letting the two light velocities involved be

  c-* = c + vd and c+* = c - vd   (7)

Eq. (6) yields the component of the absolute velocity in the direction of the

shaft as

  vd = (c-* - c+*)/2 = (ddI / dI- dI+)(4 pi K Io R N d / b)  (8)

where 2 ddI = I- - I+ = |dI-| - |dI+| and dI- and dI+ are the intensity

differences registered in the two directions. It may be readily appreciated

that to within a negligible second order error of the order of (ddI / dI)^2

or (vd / c)^2 that

  dI- dI+ = (dI)^2   (9)

where dI may be taken as the intensity when vd = 0 or as 2 dI = |dI-| +

|dI+|. Combining Eqs. (8), (9) and (6) (for the case vd = 0) then gives the

desired result

  vd = (ddI / dI) c  (10)

To double his sensitivity and to obviate certain possible errors in alignment

of his apparatus Marinov employed the stratagem of measuring the change in

intensity dI when the shaft was rotated in both senses. Because when N = 0

the intensity Io was chosen as 1/2 the maximum intensity, Imax; the change in

intensity was positive for one sense of rotation, and negative in the

opposite sense. The effective intensity change that could be measured was,

thus, doubled. The intensity change dI was then taken as

  2 dI = |dI(clockwise)| + |dI(counter clockwise)| (11)

Marinov used the same stratagem when measuring ddI, averaging the results

for the shaft rotating in the two possible senses. If the intensities are

broken down into Io, a part dI that depends merely upon the average velocity

of light c(where vd may be regarded as zero), and a part that depends upon

the absolute velocity of the laboratory ddI, then the four possible

situations considered by Marinov experimentally are listed in Table 1. The

observed intensity difference was thus

Table 1. Four intensities involved in Marinov's toothed-wheel experiment.

case direction

a    c + vd         Ia = Io + dI + ddI

b    c + vd         Ib = Io - dI - ddI

c    c - vd         Ic = Io + dI - ddI

d    c - vd         Id = Io - dI + ddI

  4 ddI = (Ia - Ic) - (Ib - Id)  (12)

It was found to be impossible to align the apparatus so that the two beams in

opposite directions were precisely equivalent. Thus in fact (Io + dI)a - (Io

+ dI)c = I' and (Io - dI)b - (Io - dI)d = I'' were not precisely zero. A

residual constant error (I' + I'')/2 remained in the determination of ddI. It

is clear that this assymetry could have been easily taken into account if the

apparatus had been mounted on a turn table and turned through 180 deg to

repeat the observations. Averaging the two results would have then removed

this constant error. Since Marinov's equipment was righidly fixed to the

earth and could not be rotated; he resorted to the following strategem:

5 TWELVE HOUR OBSERVATIONS TO DETERMINE THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY OF THE

LABORATORY

Marinov placed his shaft in the north-south direction horizontal to the

earth's surface. At the latitude of Graz, Austria, where the experiment was

performed, as the earth rotated, the shaft moved on the surface of a cone

making an angle of 47 deg with respect to the axis of the cone, which was

parallel to the axis of the earth's rotation. Thus, Marinov had to merely

wait 12 hours for the earth to rotate his equipment through 180 deg as far as

the component projected onto the earth's equatorial plane is concerned. It

was, therefore an easy matter to subtract off the constant error (I' +

I'')/2, mentioned above, by making observations over 12 or more hours without

changing any alignments.

6. DETERMINATION OF THE DIRECTION OF THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY OF THE SOLAR

SYSTEM

Because the component of Marinov's shaft projected onto the earth's equitorial

plane sampled  all possible directions in this plane after 12 hours of

observation, and because the component of the shaft projected onto the

earth's rotational axis provided the remaining direction to be sampled;

straight forward trigonometry provided the direction of the absolute velocity

of the earth on the day observations were made.

  The absolute velocity of the solar system (ie the sun) was then obtained by

simply subtracting off the earth's orbital velocity with respect to the sun

(which was, in fact, only of the order of the error that he reports for his

observations). The tangential velocity of the earth's rotation, which is less

than the error Marinov reports, did not enter in due to the north-south

orientation of the shaft of his apparatus.

7. DISCUSSION

  The final formula(10) for vd involves only the intensity differences ddI

and dI. Only these two quantities need be examined to determine the random or

experimental error. Is the error of 11% reported by Marinov reasonable? This

can be best estimated by considering 4 dI/I, and 4 ddI / Io. The factor 4

arises from the increased sensitivity due to two senses of rotation being

used and due to the two directions of light travel being used. From Qu. (6),

setting c* = c, the fractional value 4 dI / Io, according to the numbers

provided by Marinov, where he estimated the value of K theoretically for round

holes as 9/2, is

  4 dI/Io = K 16 pi R N d / c b = 5E-3  (13)

To obtain dI it was necessary to subtract separate readings on a

galvanometer. Separate large readings  on a galvanometer can be usually made

to about 1% accuracy. Thus, the theoretical and the experimental estimate of

the fractional error are roughly the same.

The determination of ddI was quite different. Here the difference was

measured directly on a Wheatstone bridge. Differences of the order of ddI =

1E-3 dI = 5E-6 milliamps could be measured. Since ddI/dI ,varying as vd/c,

Eq. (10), is in fact, about 1E-3, as known from the 2.7K anisotropy(11) and

the Marinov coupled mirrors experiment; the fractional errors to determine

4 ddI / Io and 4 dI / Io are comparable.

The highest current Marinov recorded for Io was 21 milliamp; and the maximum

difference associated with the difference ddI was about 6E-5 milliamps. This

means a fractional intensity difference of 4 ddI/Io = 1E-5 was recorded.

Others have also reported being able to measure such intensity differences

down to a level of 1E-5 using electronic comparisons. From Eq. (10)the

fractional error for vd / c is the sum of the fractional errors of 4 dI / Io

and 4 ddI / Io. As estimated above each of these fractional errors are of the

order of 1%; so Marinov's experimentally determined experimental error of 11%

seems quite reasonable.

It has been speculated that mechanical vibrations would make it impossible

for Marinov to have obtained a positive result. Although it may be true that

instantaneous mechanical distortions produced misalignments resulting in an

instantaneous error of the order of 1E-5 in fractional intensity;

observations were not taken instantaneously. Observations were averaged over

a time span long in comparison to the period of any mechanical vibrations of

interest. Even if vibrations  of the order of 1E-3cm existed, the fractional

error produced by holes of 0.6 cm would be much less than Marinov's reported

error. It seems clear taht vibrations could not possibly have affected the

results. And Marinov reports, consistent with this estimate, no difficulty

with vibrations.

It is difficult to imagine systematic errors that might have distorted

Marinov's results. Since the apparatus was evacuated, no atmospheric effects

could enter in. No temperature effects were involved, as there was no large

time laps between the measurements of ddI and dI.

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Marinov now reports for his coupled mirrors experiment the value of the

absolute velocity of the solar system v = 303 +- 20 km/sec, alfa = 13.3 +-

0.3 h, delta = -21 +- 4 deg.

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15.S.Marinov measured the oneway velocity of light to one place accuracy

using a terrestrial light source, Spec.Sci.Tech.,3,57 (1980)