Lectures On Theoretical Physics by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz

Picture what is simultaneous and what is not.Īs to the ether. Of time is so definite that I clearly distinguish in my In such a way that the phenomena may be coordinatedĬlearly the way in which they are connected. Images of the world around us, and we try to do this ' All our theories help us to form pictures or Not only of the geometrical properties but of theĪnd in Problems of Modern Physics (1922) Lorentz treated it as a 'grand scheme of things' choice, and even suggested that Einstein's decision to dispense with the electromagnetic ether was right for Einstein: Whether 'space' can be so extended as to take care Of 'ether' we must use another word as a peg to

' This, however, is a question of taste and of words.įor whether there is an ether or not, electromagneticįields certainly exist, and so also does the energy of In his Lectures on Theory of Electrons (1909) he admitted intuitive attachment, for example:' I cannot but regard the ether, which can be the seat of an electromagnetic field with its energy and its vibrations, as endowed with a certain degree of substantiality, however different it may be from all ordinary matter.' In Lectures on Theoretical Physics (1915) he suggested that the choice was, in part, a matter of taste, and that some ether substitute was needed either way, an opinion shared by Einstein (see below): Lorentz's position shows considerable nuance and awareness of factors in theory choice that go beyond empirical consequences. Had the same empirical consequences and that the ether could not be experimentally detected, but he maintained that some kind of ether was needed as carrier LORENTZ admitted that his theory and the special theory of relativity Special theory of relativity, he preferred his own ether-based 'theory of electrons'. In spite of his often-expressed admiration for EINSTEIN'S ' It is well known that until his death in 1928 LORENTZ kept insisting on the usefulness of an ether. And Einstein showed similar ether loss remorse in his views after general relativity, so they were not that far apart.įor Lorentz's evolution on the subject see Goldberg, The Lorentz Theory of Electrons and Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Kox, Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, the ether, and the general theory of relativity, where we read: Their diverging decisions were made on conceptual grounds. So no empirical successes could distinguish between them, a fact recognized by both Einstein and Lorentz.

Special relativity and Lorentz's ether theory not only produce identical empirical predictions but are equivalent in an even stronger sense, see e.g. However, it was not necessarily to his original conception of ether, and it was not 'despite the empirical successes' of special relativity. Lorentz did remain sympathetic to ether to the end.

Lectures On Theoretical Physics by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz