One Way Speed of Light Test – is it Possible?

Einstein in 1905 introduced the constancy of the speed of light as a postulate, but in so doing removed the 19th century idea that the speed of light can be explained physically. So one might ask the question, why is the speed of light the speed that it is, and not something else? Einstein’s theory provides no answer for this question. As a philosophical exercise, we consider if relativity genuinely disproved the alternative hypothesis, that light can be modeled as a wave propagating through a medium that is static with respect to the universe. We further consider if this alternative model can remain consistent with the experimentally observed speed of light. We examine herein the mathematical arguments of Herbert Ives regarding slow clock transport with respect to such a hypothetical “preferred frame” for the velocity of light, and find that this leads to a prediction of clock biases which obfuscate any one-way speed of light differences expected from a Galilean addition of velocities. As such the Lorentzian model followed by Ives can be seen as equivalent to relativity, but differing in the conventions regarding the synchronization of clocks. Finally, we explore how clocks positioned in a static frame of reference might be used to make the anticipated one-way speed of light visible experimentally.