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Light is a wave, and the ''luminiferous aether'' (or ether) is defined to be whatever medium transmits the light waves.

Light is a wave, and the ''luminiferous aether'' (or ether) is defined to be whatever medium transmits the light waves.

The [[Michelson-Morley experiment]] in 1887 failed to detect the aether. H. [[Poincare]] conjectured that the aether may be unobservable, and invented special [[relativity]] based on the notion that the aether may be superfluous. A. [[Einstein]] published conflicting opinions on whether the aether exists.

The [[Michelson-Morley experiment]] in 1887 failed to detect the aether. [[Henri Poincaré]] conjectured that the aether may be unobservable, and invented special [[relativity]] based on the notion that the aether may be superfluous. [[Albert Einstein]] published conflicting opinions on whether the aether exists.

Today we have no firm answer on whether the aether exists or not. [[Quantum electrodynamics]] (QED) teaches that when light goes through a vacuum, it is really going through a sea of virtual particles. Cosmologists say that the vacuum is really filled with ''dark energy'', and it is unknown whether that has any relation to the aether concept. The pre-relativity aether theory has been superseded, but the precise nature of the aether is an open question.

Today we have no firm answer on whether the aether exists or not. [[Quantum electrodynamics]] (QED) teaches that when light goes through a [[vacuum]], it is really going through a sea of virtual particles. Cosmologists say that the vacuum is really filled with ''dark energy'', and it is unknown whether that has any relation to the aether concept. The pre-relativity aether theory has been superseded, but the precise nature of the aether is an open question.

[[Category:Science]]

[[Category:Science]]