{"product_id":"sir-aetheron-pixel-hoodie","title":"Sir Aetheron – The Luminiferous Aether and Michelson–Morley Pixel Hoodie","description":"\u003cp\u003eSir Aetheron, a fallen knight in cracked aether-glass armour, kneels on a cross-shaped stone interferometer floating on mercury, its fringes perfectly still.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe Physics\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe aether was the proposed medium for light waves, reaching back to Huygens’s \u003cem\u003eTraité de la Lumière\u003c\/em\u003e (1690). If Earth moves through it at its orbital speed, light should take slightly different times along two perpendicular arms of an interferometer. In 1887 A. A. Michelson and E. W. Morley floated their interferometer on mercury, rotated it, and looked for the fringe shift. They expected about 0.4 fringe. They saw less than one-twentieth of that, “probably less than one-fortieth”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eΔN ≈ 2 L v² \/ (λ c²)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eΔN: expected fringe shift on rotating the apparatus by 90° (fringes)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eL: effective optical arm length, about 11 m with repeated reflections (m)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ev: Earth’s orbital speed, about 3 × 10⁴ m s⁻¹\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eλ: wavelength of the light used, about 5.9 × 10⁻⁷ m\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ec: speed of light, 299 792 458 m s⁻¹\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith these numbers ΔN ≈ 0.37, the expected 0.4. Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction could save a stationary aether, but Einstein’s 1905 special relativity made the medium unnecessary. Sources: Michelson \u0026amp; Morley, \u003cem\u003eAm. J. Sci.\u003c\/em\u003e 34, 333 (1887), doi:10.2475\/ajs.s3-34.203.333; APS News, “This Month in Physics History”, Nov 2007.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHonest caveat:\u003c\/em\u003e The 1887 null result did not kill every aether theory overnight; Lorentz’s version survived until relativity replaced it. The dates on the back mark the claim and the decisive test, not a single death certificate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eIn character\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI waited for the wind of the Earth’s passage. It never came. My armour cracked, but the light ran straight through me, unmoved.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eOn the hoodie\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFront: a cracked cross-shaped interferometer with a flat fringe bar. Front label: “AETHER DRIFT · NULL RESULT 1887”. Back: Sir Aetheron in full pixel art with “BORN 1690 - DIED 1887” and “THE STILL WIND.” Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend hoodie, Black, S to 5XL.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart of the \u003cstrong\u003eGhost Particles That Were Wrong\u003c\/strong\u003e set with \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/products\/enrayne-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eEnrayne\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/products\/calorus-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eCalorus\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/products\/diphantom-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eDiphantom\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/products\/prematura-pixel-hoodie\"\u003ePrematura\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/products\/thetarch-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eThetarch\u003c\/a\u003e. Browse all \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/collections\/hoodies\"\u003ephysics hoodies\u003c\/a\u003e, more \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/collections\/relativity-cosmos-t-shirts\"\u003erelativity \u0026amp; cosmos designs\u003c\/a\u003e, or the \u003ca href=\"\/ja\/collections\/deep-cuts\"\u003eDeep Cuts\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Printify","offers":[{"title":"Black \/ S","offer_id":50964467155047,"sku":"27950117142796064536","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ M","offer_id":50964467187815,"sku":"20160912485558213266","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ L","offer_id":50964467220583,"sku":"26332867976694335576","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ XL","offer_id":50964467253351,"sku":"23263471025259455711","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 2XL","offer_id":50964467286119,"sku":"20076881190543740589","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 3XL","offer_id":50964467318887,"sku":"26919207936067971170","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 4XL","offer_id":50964467351655,"sku":"31906747619846215901","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 5XL","offer_id":50964467384423,"sku":"12937325822508555935","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0596\/8746\/9159\/files\/03_H13_ab204fc8-d859-4762-9a69-db24a60aaa79.png?v=1793678417","url":"https:\/\/pixelatedphysics.com\/ja\/products\/sir-aetheron-pixel-hoodie","provider":"Pixelated Physics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}