Inconstancy of the speed of light

PSI Blog 20180704 Inconstancy of the speed of light

Thanks to Captain Bligh for his question about the constancy of the speed of light (SOL):

 Upon entering a new medium (such as glass or water), the speed and wavelength of light is reduced, although the frequency remains unaltered.” -http://light.physics.auth.gr/enc/wavelength_en.html

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Remember they teach us that frequency and wavelength are reciprocal. Right? This is not the case according to this source. In a medium the SOL varies as does the wavelength, but not the frequency.

Am I missing something here?

[GB: You are right. I explained this in Chapter 14.2 of IUT.[1] Reciprocity is drilled into our heads just like the slogan “There is no aether.” That is why it seems such a shock when we first find out that SOL is not constant and that SOL in water is only 225,000,000 m/s instead of the 300,000,000 m/s that occurs in air. Another shock occurs when we find out that wavelengths decrease in water, but that the frequency does not. Still another is the fact that red light in air and red light in water has two different wavelengths (650 nm vs. 488 nm) but the same frequency. In other words, color is determined by frequency, not wavelength. Incidentally, that is why distant galaxies with high redshifts are not necessarily red.

Frequency is determined by the source of a wave. Thus, if I am in a motionless boat and hit the water with my paddle once every second, the frequency of those collisions will be 1/s (one per second).  Nothing can change that. I could do it in a lake filled with molasses—the frequency still would be 1/s. I could stand on dry land and do the same—the frequency still would be 1/s. In progressive physics we say that there are no constants in nature, although frequency comes closest to being the only exception. Frequency never changes because it represents an action that has occurred in the past. Once my paddle collides with the medium, I cannot “uncollide” it, in the same way you cannot undo what you did yesterday. Of course, the production of perfect frequency is impossible. For instance, I cannot hit my paddle at exactly one second intervals. Due to causality, there always will be some plus or minus variation.  Remember also, as we have seen with the Doppler Effect, that the measurement of frequency must take into account the motion of the source, the motion of the observer, and the rate at which the intervening medium conducts wave motion.

BTW: The above lesson would have greatly aided Pound and Rebka[2] in interpreting their “gravitational redshift” experiment. They mistakenly attributed their results to changes in frequency instead of changes in wavelength. Keeping SOL constant, then required them to invoke “time dilation” in their interpretation that light photons actually existed and were affected by gravitation.]

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[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 2017, Infinite Universe Theory: Berkeley, California, Progressive Science Institute, 325 p. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/IUTebook].

[2] Pound, R.V., and Rebka, G.A., 1960, Apparent Weight of Photons: Physical Review Letters, v. 4, no. 7, p. 337-341. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/PR60].