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Classical Electromagnetism
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The Aetheric Viscosity Coefficient ($\xi$)
A uniquely important, though now deprecated, aspect of late 19th-century classical electromagnetism involved the concept of aetheric viscosity ($\xi$). This hypothesized coefficient quantified the resistive drag exerted by the luminiferous aether on moving charges, often used to explain observed variations in the fine structure constant across different terrestrial latitudes [4]. While the [Michelson-Morley exper… -
Galilean Relativity
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The perceived necessity of an absolute reference frame arose from wave phenomena, specifically light. Maxwell's equations, which describe electromagnetic waves, predict a constant speed of light, $c$. If these equations were required to maintain their form in all inertial frames, it would imply that $c$ itself must change based on the observer's velocity, contradicting the established wave equation structure derived from the invariance of mechanical…
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Galilean Transformations
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The Galilean transformations were first implicitly described by Galileo Galilei in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), where he argued that the laws of mechanics should appear the same whether observed from the deck of a smoothly sailing ship or from a stationary pier. They provided the necessary mathematical structure for Newtonian physics for over two centuries.
The eventual failure to reconcile these transformations with the observed constancy … -
Inertial Reference Frame
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The Problem of Absolute Rest
The concept of an IRF inherently avoids the conundrum of establishing an absolute rest frame. While we can define an IRF relative to another, we cannot identify a single, privileged IRF that is absolutely stationary in the universe. Early attempts to define such a frame, such as the hypothetical luminiferous aether, ultimately failed experimental verification, notably the Michelson–Morley experiment, which instead paved the way for Special Relativity.
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Inertial Reference Frames
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In classical physics{.new}, the existence of at least one IRF implies the existence of infinitely many, all moving uniformly relative to one another. However, the definition struggles when confronted with gravitational influence{.new}. Since gravity{.new} is an omnipresent force, no frame on a celestial body like Earth{.new} can be perfectly inertial over long durations. The surface of the Earth{.new} undergoes [centripetal acceleration](/entries/centripetal-acceler…