On the experimental determination of the one-way speed of light

TL;DR

This paper examines the experimental challenges in measuring the one-way speed of light, clarifying misconceptions and providing epistemological insights into the limitations of such measurements.

Contribution

It analyzes common experimental methods for determining the one-way speed of light, highlighting the epistemological issues and clarifying why direct measurement is inherently difficult.

Findings

Experimental methods have limitations in measuring one-way light speed.

Direct measurement of physical entities' speed is inherently complex.

The paper provides epistemological tools for understanding these measurement challenges.

Abstract

In this contribution the question of the isotropy of the one-way speed of light from an experimental perspective is addressed. In particular, we analyze two experimental methods commonly used in its determination. The analysis is aimed at clarifying the view that the one-way speed of light cannot be determined by techniques in which physical entities close paths. The procedure employed here will provide epistemological tools such that physicists understand that a direct measurement of the speed not only of light but of any physical entity is by no means trivial. Our results shed light on the physics behind the experiments which may be of interest for both physicists with an elemental knowledge in special relativity and philosophers of science.