If there is a GR ether, as Einstein tried to prove, and that ether is densified by the matter embedded in it, we should expect measurable optical effects, since EM has to propagate through those media.

My model of quantum gravity predicts that light travels faster through vacuum that is not dominated by embedded matter and slower in the neighborhood of large conglomerations of matter. This effect has been quantified by the Pioneer anomaly. The probes are not slowing down with an impossible-to-explain smooth and coordinated sunward acceleration - they are behaving exactly as designed, but the EM signals from the probes arrived just a bit sooner than expected.

The problem is that most physicists believe that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, and they ignore the possibility that "empty" space has a refractive index. "Empty" space is anything but - it is a teeming sea of virtual particle pairs, and that field is not passive. The Pioneer probes had a consistent apparent positional error of ~40ppm at 70 AU. This is the first quantification of the density of the vacuum (ether) in our solar system. Gravitational lensing is not the result corpuscular photons hurtling around on hypothetical geodesics in "warped" space. It is a real classical optical effect- EM waves being refracted by traversing vacuum fields (GM ether) of higher and lower density.

If we consider that the quantuum vacuum is Einstein's GR ether, and that it is densified by the presence of matter, we get to keep pretty much all of GR, except that we need to accept that the speed of light in a vacuum is not constant.

As for the mechanism by which the virtual particle pairs of the quantum vacuum are polarized by matter: Pay attention to CERN's Athena project. One critical experiment will be a comparison of the gravitational infall rates of neutral antihydrogen and regular old hydrogen. My model predicts that netral antimatter will "fall" faster than matter, due to an innate attraction of matter and antimatter. If this is true, the mechanism by which the quantum vacuum is polarized will be revealed. The particle/antiparticle pairs will arise preferentially oriented with the antimatter particle closer to the dominant mass in the neighborhood. The pairs will need to borrow less energy from the vacuum to arise in this orientation and can exist for a longer period before having to annihilate in accordance with the Heisenburg uncertainty principle.

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The ether of general relativity therefore differs from that of classical mechanics or the special theory of relativity respectively, in so far as it is not 'absolute', but is determined in its locally variable properties by ponderable matter.

Albert Einstein, "On the Ether", 1924

turbo-1, this is a presentation of your own, ATM ideas, in a section of BAUT outside that set up specifically for the purpose of discussing ATM ideas.

Please take some time to re-read the Rules For Posting To This Board, specifically #13 (my bold):In a little while I will move your post to the ATM section, as the start of a new thread, where you can present your ideas (and we can attack them).

[EDIT: Done; these two posts have been moved from this this thread.]

To the denizens of this board - please accept my apologies. I got used to the relative freedom on the ATM forum and didn't pay attention to which forum the original post appeared in.

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The ether of general relativity therefore differs from that of classical mechanics or the special theory of relativity respectively, in so far as it is not 'absolute', but is determined in its locally variable properties by ponderable matter.

Albert Einstein, "On the Ether", 1924