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An elementary first-postulate measurement of the cosmic limit speed

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Brian Coleman

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LETTERS AND COMMENTS

In 1898 Henri Poincaré referred to the speed of light as a probable limit speed but rashly asserted it would never as such be experimentally verifiable. Moving space vehicle measurements of the cosmic limit speed, however, without assuming it equals c, were described by Coleman (2003 Eur. J. Phys. 24 301). A more elementary measurement is also possible, involving two mutually stationary vehicles with a third passing between them. A simple formula gives the limit speed in terms of signal speed c and three time intervals.


PACS

03.30.+p Special relativity

07.87.+v Spaceborne and space research instruments, apparatus, and components (satellites, space vehicles, etc.)

Subjects

Instrumentation and measurement

Gravitation and cosmology

Dates

Issue 3 (May 2004)

Received 11 November 2003

Published 3 March 2004


A Corrigendum for this article has been published in 2006 Eur. J. Phys. 27 467


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