Page:MajoranaEmission2.djvu/6

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
150
Prof. R Birkeland: An Attempt to explain

is not influenced by reflexion on mirrors, or reflecting surfaces; from those now described by me, it results that the said velocity does not change by the movement of the source. These facts are surely in harmony with the theory of relativity; but really, in spite of their evident interest, they cannot logically be cited as sure experimental proof of this theory. In fact, two experimental circumstances must not be forgotten: first, the presence of materials which are traversed by the interfering rays (air, glass, metals); and second, the gravitation field of our earth. While it is possible to imagine experiments entirely apart from the former, it cannot be foreseen if later experimental results will bring into evidence the eventual influence of the second.