Scientific Development Research

The most significant problem left unresolved by special relativity is this: In his later years, Einstein explicitly acknowledged the existence of an ether as the medium for light speed, which he termed the "general relativistic ether," and categorically declared that the ether assumption does not contradict special relativity. However, Einstein never achieved this through his modifications to special relativity. A careful analysis of Einstein's original theory of special relativity reveals that his definition of simultaneity can be reinterpreted as being consistent with the ether assumption. In his seminal paper, Einstein's definition of simultaneity can in fact be understood as defining a special vacuum ether coordinate system, distinct from absolute motion systems—only through such an interpretation can the relativity of simultaneity be logically comprehended. Yet throughout his life, Einstein presented three different formulations of simultaneity with distinct and separate connotations. The first formulation can only be understood as consistent with the ether assumption; the remaining formulations are not so. If we are to interpret these three definitions of simultaneity as consistent and meaningful, the Lorentz transformation must be reconstructed on the foundation of the ether assumption. Through the author's novel derivation of the Lorentz transformation, this goal is more clearly achieved, revealing a new physical picture. In this picture, both reference frames involved in the Lorentz transformation can be understood as vacuum ether systems, since for each the invariance of light speed relative to the ether is defined. However, when either reference frame is understood as the vacuum ether system, the other must necessarily be an absolute motion system. This interpretation aligns with Einstein's original intention: that both reference frames in the Lorentz transformation can satisfy the definition of simultaneity. Nevertheless, this understanding requires supplemental clarification to be appropriate: Both reference frames cannot simultaneously satisfy the definition of simultaneity. When one frame is understood to satisfy it, the other necessarily does not. The logical validity of this interpretation becomes evident in the new derivation of the Lorentz transformation: Light speed cannot be regarded as a single beam propagating along the X-axis, but must be considered as two beams propagating along the Y-axis and Y'-axis of the two reference frames, respectively. The Lorentz transformation thus understood sheds the invariance of light speed relative to arbitrary reference frames, retaining only invariance relative to the ether system. The resulting Lorentz transformation is thereby reestablished on the foundation of the ether assumption, completing a paradigm shift in the interpretation of special relativity and laying the groundwork for achieving greater logical self-consistency. Finally, by analyzing the problems arising from Einstein's failure to distinguish between temporal simultaneity and synchronization, we conclude that special relativity's relativistic concept of time does not necessitate rejecting Newton's absolute time concept, but merely supplements it. The relationship between Newton's absolute time and special relativity's time concept is actually analogous to the relationship between the invariance of light speed and the variability of light's period.

Ether; General relativity ether; The principle of invariance of the speed of light; Definition of simultaneity; Lorentz transformation; The synchronism of time