Sharlanov G.V. Reasonable Alternatives to the Two Big Problems in 20th-Century Physics

Article. — Publication at vixra.org, 2025. — 105 p.The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks the real advance in science ("The Evolution of Physics", Einstein & Infeld, 1938). The root cause of the biggest problem in 20th century physics, the "special theory of relativity", is actually the incorrectly accepted and maintained for more than 100 years "postulate of the constancy of the speed of light for all reference frames". The reason for the emergence of this postulate is the incorrect interpretation of the famous "Michelson-Morley experiment". This experiment was based on the inappropriate conceptual design used in Michelson’s "two-way interferometer". All other known experiments: the Sagnac experiment in 1912, the "Michelson-Gale-Pearson" experiment in 1925, and the "One-way measurement of the speed of light" experiments carried out in recent years, indisputably prove that the speed of light is not the same for all frames of reference. The measured speed of light in the frame of reference related to the Earth’s surface differs from the "speed of light in vacuum" and this difference varies depending on the latitude (proven by Michelson himself back in 1925). Michelson published the results of the "Michelson-Gale-Pearson" experiment in the articles "The Effect of the Earth’s Rotation on the Velocity of Light I and II". Even with the title of these articles, Michelson shows that such an effect exists, i.e., that the speed of light in vacuum differs from the speed of light in the frame of reference related to the Earth’s surface. Michelson’s "two-way interferometer" uses exactly the same path in two directions for each arm. That is why, the existing difference in the speed of light in both opposite directions in the frame of reference related to the Earth’s surface caused by the Earth’s rotation around its axis cannot be established. This is because this difference in the speed of light is completely and accurately compensated for each arm and for any direction of the arm.