MICHELSONMORLEY EXPERIMENTS

In 1887 Michelson and Morley tried to observe in laboratory the ether drift by measuring a small difference in the velocity of two perpendicular light beams The result of their measurements however was much smaller than the classical prediction and interpreted as a null result This was crucial to stimulate the first pioneering formulations of relativity and as such it represents a fundamental step in the history of science Since then many repetitions of that original experiment have been performed with better and better sensitivity and the standard conclusion has been always the same no genuine ether drift has ever been detected However in the authors39 new scheme the small irregular residuals observed in laboratory show surprising correlations with the direct observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background CMB with satellites in space This opens the possibility of finally linking the CMB to a fundamental reference frame for relativity with substantial implications for the interpretation of nonlocality in the quantum theory The importance of the issue would require new dedicated experimental tests and significant improvements in the data analysis Otherwise without such more stringent checks these crucial experiments will remain forever as an enigma for physics and the history of science The book illustrates the many facets of this research together with historical accounts on some leading scientists involved in these measurements