Re: .Simple SR question...

On Jan 29, 9:18 am, asleep@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dark Energy) wrote:

"To postulate" in physics means
"to assume to be an experimental result";
however, in this case, this is not possible.


I completely disagree. When something is postulated in physics, it is
taken as an *unsupported* assumption (though of course it should not
be in direct conflict with any experimental evidence). That's what
"postulate" means. Now, if a theory is *based* on those postulates,
then there will certainly be predictive outcomes of that theory that
can be compared to experiment, but at no time is there a requirement
that the postulates themselves be demonstrated by experiment.

A good example is the postulated presence of an electric field. One
never has to demonstrate that there is direct experimental evidence of
the field itself. However, it is quite sufficient to demonstrate that
all of the effects predicted by the assumed presence and behavior of
the field are consistent with experiment.

PD

.

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