Abstract

The velocity c = (e₀u₀)^1/2 appears in Maxwell's equations, but these equations say nothing about that velocity with respect to an absolute background and give no reference frame against which the velocity is measured. All experimenters obtain the same values for e₀ and u₀, so the observed velocity is the same in any observer's reference frame. As the speed of the moving observer can assume any value, the EM energy or wave leaving the source must have speed components in a continuous range, including c as measured in any arbitrary reference frame. This frame independent nature of Maxwell's equations does not prohibit a range of velocities, but instead dictates this to be so, and herein we develop a Galilean invariant form of Maxwell's equations. Thus, Maxwell's equations indicate there are physically detectable components of any EM energy that reach an observer faster or slower than a component traveling at c as measured by that observer. It is this peculiar nature of light that led to the development of special relativity, but it is shown that the Lorentz transformations are nothing more than an elegant manipulation of the Galilean transformations with no physical basis of support. A direct consequence of this demonstration is the possibility of superluminal communications and travel.