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Implausibilibuddy t1_j9ou88q wrote

Reply to comment by Not_Pictured in What does it mean for light to be an excitation in the electromagnetic field? by Ethan-Wakefield

> The model of reality that treats all particles as excitation in fields is part of the single most accurate model humanity has ever come up with.

Isn't that just "ether theory" with extra steps?

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agate_ t1_j9pgp8i wrote

It’s “ether theory” that works. We adopt or discard models of the universe based on whether they make accurate predictions, and the ether theory of light didn’t.

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sticklebat t1_j9y2cji wrote

Superficially, kind of? There are many differences though. One is that the ether was proposed in order to provide a rest frame for light, whereas the fields upon which modern physics is based are fully relativistic. Another is that the ether was thought of as a physical thing thing with density, velocity, etc., and whereas fields can’t really be described in those terms, at least not as directly. It’s more that fields can give rise to them.

TL;DR an ether theory is similar to fields in that they permeate all of space, but they’re fundamentally different from each other in properties and mechanics.

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