Michelson’s analysis of errors in his 1881/87 experiments of the two swimmers contest; Necessity of correcting college textbooks
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract The Paper highlights discovery from 2000 of two Errors (ERM81/87) by Michelson in analysis of his experiments ME81/87. ERM81/87 has also been addressed in series of previous articles by the authors. ERM81/87 consisted of assuming the transverse path of light ray 2 or of SW2 swimmer, to be an isosceles triangle (Error 1) inclined with angle β’ in referential frame (RF) ether/water (E/W), or a double orthogonal path (in RF device/bank (D/B)), thus calculating the wrong result, t 2 < t 1 , or Δt = t 1 -t 2 > 0, (Error 2), states SW2 wins the contest. In ERM81/87 it is proven firstly, by Demonstration 1, based on logic, starting from the non-observance in Michelson’s analysis, of rules of correctness and fair play, in development of the two swimmers contest (TSC). Rresulted in correct transversal path as a right triangle, with t 2 = t 1 (in RF, E/W), the correct contest result is a draw. Demonstration 2 consists, in correction of SW2 route, resulting under fair play conditions, for transversal path, a right triangle with hypotenuse inclined at angle 2β (in RF, E/W) and t 2 = t 1 or Δt = 0, with the contest result in a tie. Demonstration 3 is based on a new Generalised Case (GC) of the TSC where the orientation of the starting path of SW1 can be inclined at any angle α, always one obtains, t 1 = t 2 , the correct result. Evidence provided shows Michelson designed his interferometer by analogy with TSC, Michelson considered SW2 the winner. Evidence provided in 1892 by Lorenz expressed doubts about the correctness of Michelson’s analysis of ME81/87, without finding errors. We show, an initial error (ERM81) was committed by Michelson in ME81analysis, erroneously superposing paths for SW2 (in RF, D/B), and in incorrect calculations of t 2 and Δt obtaining t 2 < t 1 , an error communicated to him by Potier, which also mentioned the correct result Δt = 0, without any demonstration. In analysis of ME87, Michelson acknowledged the error, modified the path of SW2 to isosceles triangle (in RF, E/W), and made new t 2 calculation. But he reduced by only half, the Δt compared to Δt in ME81, meaning the basic error in Δt (ERM87) has persisted, until today. We emphasize that errors ERM81/87 in TSC are repeatedly printed, and appear in all college physics textbooks around the world, exemplifying by presenting four such excerpts from college textbooks from the US and Canada. Thus, a correction of ERM81/87 is required, starting with the correction of the TSC, by admitting the correct result of equality of SW1 and SW2, in all college physics textbooks. As result the ether can be reintroduced into physics with multiple consequences including re-evaluation of the Special Relativity Theory.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.008 | 0.043 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.004 | 0.010 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.004 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.004 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.013 | 0.002 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".