Reproducing the Velador Experiment

(Last Revised 6/5/07) 

This is not an original project, but rather an attempt to determine if recently published experimental results indicating an absolute vector reference are reproducible.  This demonstration has been named the Velador experiment by its designer, Dr. Lance Osadchey, and is referenced on the links page of this site.  Dr. Osadchey claims that a laser beam projected at a sensor along a path perpendicular to a posited absolute motion field will be measurably deflected.  He has conducted this experiment, and sample data sets from his results are posted at his web site.

Preliminary analysis suggests that he is observing deflection of a laser beam, and that the magnitude and direction of this deflection is dependent on the laser orientation.  Further, there is indication that this dependence on orientation is coupled to the rotation of the Earth - that the deflection is not a function of phenomena limited to the Earth's surface.

These results appear to challenge a fundamental assertion of the theory of general relativity - the postulate that all motion is relative.  This is one of the mathematical postulates used to derive the theory, and is fundamental to the structure of the theories of Special Relativity and General Relativity.  General Relativity has been relatively well tested using other methods, but the experimental test outlined in the Velador experiment was not performed until 2003.  Dr. Osadchey's claims are based on experimental observation, not derived theoretically.  Therefore, it should be possible to replicate them, with or without challenge to the theoretical framework of General Relativity.  It is necessary to replicate Dr. Osadchey's results before they can be taken seriously, and potentially important to do so if they represent an actual failure of one of the fundamental postulates of relativity. 

The Velador results have yet to be confirmed or falsified, but at an estimated cost of $100 for this experiment, I'm convinced that this replication can be performed for a bargain.  I expect it will be fun, too, and (true or not) at the end I will be the proud owner of one of the world's largest strain gauges. 

So, here I go. 

Information on how to duplicate this experiment will be posted here, as well as results to date.  A page for speculations based on the premise that Dr. Osadchey's results are true and replicatable will also be maintained, but these hypotheses are unconfirmed at this time, and many are not necessarily incompatible with the fundamental postulates of relativity (although they all imply a shortcoming in the modern understanding of the theory).  Many of these have falsifiable predictions themselves, and it is my hope to get a few steps closer to the cause of these observations via the process of elimination.