Special relativity connects measurable clock rates, length contraction, light propagation, and four-momentum through the Lorentz transformation. Tests probe particular predictions rather than measuring a coordinate transformation in isolation. Examples include cosmic-ray muon time-dilation experiments, muon storage-ring time-dilation experiments, the Michelson-Morley experiment, the Fizeau experiment, and particle-collision energy and momentum balances.
An interferometer compares round-trip light travel times along perpendicular arms as its orientation changes. The absence of the classical stationary-aether fringe shift at the expected scale constrains orientation dependence of the round-trip speed of light. The result is consistent with special relativity, but alone does not select it uniquely from every alternative theory.[ref]
On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether by Albert Abraham Michelson and Edward W. Morley. 1887 report, interferometer arrangement and comparison of predicted and observed orientation-dependent shifts
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Tests of special relativity refer to experiments and observations designed to verify the predictions made by Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, which was published in 1905. Special relativity fundamentally changed our understanding of space and time, introducing concepts such as the constancy of the speed of light, time dilation, length contraction, and the equivalence of mass and energy (E=mc²).