Quote:
Originally Posted by Nereid
Would it be correct to say that this ATM idea intends to be some kind of theory of everything? That it postulates that all physical phenomena are, in principle, within its domain of applicability?
|
Yes. The essence of the proposal is long established, accepted and working physics. That is, Maxwell's equations. I personally prefer to see these as the equations of a tensile aether. It is easier to make realistic models in your head in that way. Then you understand that a magnetic field, for example, is the local rate of rotation of the aether. That is why the vector function is called "curl". All the various fields in Maxwell are understandable as aether motion, because that is what people believed in at that time. The only thing that went wrong is that the idea that matter fitted into the scheme (as spherical standing waves) as well did not catch on.
Quote:
|
That other postulates include a small number of mutually consistent concepts, and such concepts are quantifiable, in terms of a mathematical framework in which 'non-linear' is rigorously defined (in principle)?
|
Well
non-linear is rigorously defined. Although originally Maxwell's equations were taken as linear, since GR they are accepted as non-linear because of the effects of energy on the metric. However it seems to me that two phenomena which are very similar have not been recognized as such:
1. In GR the metric is distorted by matter which effectively varies the speed of light (although stated as varying the amount of space) to account for gravitation.
2. In optics the refractive index is a measure of the variation of the speed of light due to matter up close, where electromagnetic forces are at work (charge).
That these two are treated differently makes combining the phyics laws difficult. They are two aspects of the same thing, one related to gravity and the other to charge. Both cause variations in the effective speed of light. In my view the charge component does it by local fluctuations in the tension of the aether (which average out over a few wavelengths), and gravity does it by a somewhat co-ordinated set transverse of transverse waves, these being the total effect of a lot of matter in one place. This tangential motion has a centrifugal force that makes a region near matter have a slightly higher average tension.
Quote:
From this it seems that the ATM idea already incorporates several concepts from classical physics - time and energy, for example.
Is that so?
Does the idea include postulates, or definitions, of what the waves are of (or in)?
|
Yes, it is very classical physics. The one variation is to recognize that the speed of light is a variable (due to fluctuations in local energy density) and matter as standing waves. I prefer to think in aether terms, but some may feel uncomfortable with that (because they have wrongly been told that the aether was disproved by M-M - not true of LET) and so they can work equally well with Maxwell's equations. GR has the necessary conditions to effectively vary c due to gravity effects, but a similar recognition is needed for charge. These effects quite naturally happen if the equations of an aether are used with recognition that tension affects wave velocity propagation and no additions are needed beyond that. When particles are understood as spherical transverse standing waves then the properties of matter as regards gravity follow automatically and quantitatively.