[quote=NotStein;37965]Maybe EM waves do require a medium to travel in. Article after article talks about the 'virtual bubbling sea' of 'potential' particles, that real particles pop in & out of. It's either there or not; Quantum loop theory speaks of a mesh of looped whatzits quantizing the minimum discrete elements of distance and time. Again, it's either there or not. From another viewpoint, all energetic moving phenomena from atomic explosions, comets (tails), and the big bang degrade as they progress. Heisenburg's principle demands it; They leave detrius behind. In the case of the big bang, I just feel that the detrius left behind we happen to call space-time. It's either there or not. If it's there, it's a medium. If it's a medium, it constrains the speed of light (EM).
Hi Jeff; Welcome back. You are right about some form of ether being out there. Not the conceptual idea from Plato and Aristotle, as it being the 5th element, but rather real stuff. A little research I did: Such a view, however, contradicts the continuum concept of space-time and fields and Einstein's statements in "Aether and the Theory of Relativity", May 5th, 1920:
"More careful reflection teaches us, however, that the special theory of relativity does not compel us to deny ether." and "To deny the ether is ultimately to assume that empty space has no physical qualities whatever".
As to the idea of "historical" aether theories it has to be decided, which "historical" theory out of many may adequately be currently taught?
[edit] Aether and quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics can be used to describe spacetime as being "bitty" at extremely small scales, fluctuating and generating particle pairs that appear and disappear incredibly quickly. Instead of being "smooth", the vacuum is described as looking like "quantum foam". It has been suggested that this seething mass of virtual particles may be the equivalent in modern physics of a particulate aether.
As you can see even Einstein rethought his original thoughts regarding the ether.
Best to you,
Pat