Michelson–Morley experiment results published (1887)

The Michelson–Morley experiment results were published in November 1887, indicating the speed of light is independent of motion. Conducted at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, the interferometry test failed to detect the luminiferous aether. This null result contradicted the stationary aether concept and later supported Einstein's 1905 postulate.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. In 1885, Michelson began a collaboration with Edward Morley to confirm Fresnel's drag coefficient and improve on Michelson's 1881 experiment. In 1886, they successfully confirmed Fresnel's drag coefficient, which was considered a confirmation of the stationary aether concept. The 1887 experiment was performed in several periods of concentrated observations between April and July 1887 in the basement of Adelbert Dormitory of WRU (later renamed Pierce Hall, demolished in 1962).

Publication. The results were published in November 1887. Michelson wrote about the "decidedly negative result" in a letter to Lord Rayleigh in August 1887. The experiment apparently confirmed complete aether dragging and refuted the stationary aether. The journal name is not stated in the supplied passages.

Implications. The null result was further substantiated by other second-order experiments. The results supported Albert Einstein's strong postulate in 1905 that the speed of light is a constant in all inertial frames of reference for his Special Theory of Relativity. Morley was not convinced of his own results and conducted additional experiments from 1902 to 1904.

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