https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/s13129-023-00050-7
Regular Article
On the speed of light in a vacuum in the presence of a magnetic field
Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (UPR 3228, CNRS-UPS-UGA-INSA), 143 avenue de Rangueil, 31400, Toulouse, France
Received:
11
May
2022
Accepted:
20
February
2023
Published online:
27
March
2023
The nature of light, the existence of magnetism, and the physical meaning of a vacuum are the problems so deeply related to philosophy that they have been discussed for thousands of years. In this paper, we concentrate ourselves on a question that concerns the three of them: does light speed in a vacuum change when a magnetic field is present? The experimental answer to this fundamental question has not yet been given even if it has been stated in modern terms for more than a century. To fully understand the importance of such a question in physics, we review the main facts and concepts from the historical point of view.
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