Variable speed of light Variable speed of light A variable speed of light (VSL) is a feature of a family of hypotheses stating that the speed of light in vacuum, usually denoted by "c", may in some way not be constant, e.g. varying in space or time, or depending on frequency. A variable speed of light occurs in some situations of classical physics as equivalent formulations of accepted theories, but also in various alternative theories of gravitation and cosmology, many of them non-mainstream. Notable attempts to incorporate a variable speed of light into physics have been made by Einstein in 1911, by Robert Dicke
One-way speed of light the time of flight of light signals through a fibre optic link between two hydrogen maser clocks. In 1992 the experimental results were analysed by Clifford Will who concluded that the experiment did actually measure the one-way speed of light. In 1997 the experiment was re-analysed by Zhang who showed that, in fact, only the two-way speed had been measured. The first experimental determination of the speed of light was made by Ole Christensen Rømer. It may seem that this experiment measures the time for light to traverse part of the Earth's orbit and thus determines its one-way speed, however,