On the Continuing Relevance of Lorentz Ether Theory in the Age of Relativity
Doug Marett
With the advent of relativity the Lorentz Ether theory has been relegated to not much more than a historical footnote. What is less well known is that virtually all optical experiments to date to test the validity of special relativity cannot distinguish between the predicted outcomes of the two theories. We review the historical development of the Lorentz theory as it evolved to address the results of key optical observations of the 19th century. We then examine how modern optical experiments attempting to detect the relative inertial motion of an observer with respect to a preferred reference frame for light remain consistent with Lorentz's predictions.
