Ricardo Habalian S#: 994594890 Isotropy of Space It is commonly believed in physics (with a high degree of corroboration) that the

laws of nature dont change if the frame of reference where an event is placed is rotated. This means that a physical system in empty space would behave exactly the same way if we rotated empty space (the frame of reference) in any direction or, equivalently, that space is uniform in all directions. Physics tells us that the laws of nature are independent of the direction in space, that space is isotropic. If we define the symmetry of a physical system as a feature that is preserved after some change has been done to the system, we can say the laws of nature are symmetric since any change in space leaves the laws of physics unchanged (homogeneity of space and time make this true in all the four-dimensional world) . It can be shown that the symmetry of the laws of physics implied by isotropy of space is sufficient to derive the law of conservation of angular momentum, which states that the sum of angular momentum (the product of mass and velocity) remains unchanged after any event. The velocity of light appears to be a law of nature, at least that is what the theory of special relativity claims. If we accept the Principle of Relativity which states that laws of nature are the same in every inertial frame of reference, we conclude that so is the velocity of light, at least the average speed of a round-trip. It appears that the velocity of light cannot be tested in a one-way trajectory but only in a round trip. This has led philosophers like Reichenbach to claim that theres no such a thing as the one-way velocity of light, and others to claim that, even if it makes sense to talk of such a thing, we can never know what it is. However, if space is truly isotropic

and light is a law of nature, the velocity of light has to be the same in both directions (since isotropy of space implies invariability of the laws with respect to direction), and so be equal to the average speed c. If space is isotropic, the one-way velocity of light=the two-way velocity of light=c.