That's what they tell us. Light can travel through a vacuum with nothing in it. And maybe so but what is the evidence?
So I looked up the best vacuum on planet Earth. It contains 2.5 million molecules of air per cubic cm. This is said to replicate conditions between stars. So how then can we say we've ever tested light waves going through "nothing". We haven't.
To test the validity of my suspicions I've asked the science guys on reddit if they have an answer for this. The first few responses have already been hostile and that usually indicates this is one of those issues they simply don't have a good answer for. I was very polite in my question btw, so no I didn't provoke anybody, this is all on them.
We'll see how it goes. I'm open to a good explanation of why this is a valid test, but this light has 2 million molecules to interact with ever cubic cm it propagates, so you didn't rule out matter.
If the device I cited looks odd I would first study the mechanisms behind a fiber optic gyroscrope. It splits a beam of light, those light beams take different paths around the circle in opposite directions, they then recombine.
Although, I do see the possible objection for the detector moving. They have it moving linearly with the same velocity as the fiber optic cable it is measureing.
So I think it is the parallelogram experiment that actually rules out the detector motion. The base is stationary. https://media.scored.co/post/7NYfywPD4Z1R.png
I think i have a pretty good grasp on the rlg and interferometery in general. That said, the device still looks a little odd to me. Are the arrows showing the fiberoptic cable moving or is that just the direction of the light?
Just like a standard rlg.
So they are moving the cable? Wild, if so.
Again, i may be confused about what you are saying. Unless i am very much misunderstanding the diagram - the device will ONLY show interference pattern when the device is moving (and air is irrelevant). Right?
The fiber optic cable is in fact moving.
Only the top part of the paralellogram moves from right to left. The base is stable.
Wild.
Another moving interferometer? So these are both attempts to study linear vs rotational sagnac?
Correct