Record

RefNoMS/603/12/4
Previous numbers2122
LevelItem
TitleLetter from J [Joseph] Larmor, St John's College, Cambridge, to [George Francis] Fitzgerald
CreatorLarmor; Sir Joseph (1857-1942); Irish theoretical physicist
RecipientFitzgerald; George Francis (1851-1901); Irish physicist
Date18 December 1893
DescriptionHe thanks Fitzgerald for his letter and states that he has no intention of insisting on a literal interpretation of the equations. He has hazarded in the paper the doctrine that the complete solution of the equation is the determination of the analytical energy function. 'Interpretation is illustration rather than completion of the scheme', he states, comparing this to the structural formulae of chemistry. Larmor is troubled by the failure to get any effect in relation to convection of light waves by a magnetic field; if the density of the medium exceeds 2, [Oliver] Lodge could not detect the effect. Larmor will send Fitzgerald a copy of the B.A. [British Association] lucubration; when he wrote about Fitzgerald's planental vortex medium, he had no grasp of the mechanisms of Kelvin's turbulent medium, but now understands it better. Accordingly, Larmor has added a paragraph to the abstract on the subject. He discusses this, concluding with what is required for aether. The theory gives a good account of contact d.p. 'Ordinary conductive currents are not vortices, but must flow in open circuits, otherwise there could be no induction'.
Extent3p.
FormatManuscript
PhysicalDescriptionInk on paper
AccessStatusOpen
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