His interests covered mainly mathematical physics, the nature of light and the ether, geology, electricity and magnetism and their practical applications in industry.
His name appears in a little explored footnote inserted by Michelson and Morley in their famous paper "On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether".
Potier was a member of many committees at the famous 1881 Universal Exposition in Paris, including the one that set the standards for units in electricity.
Exploring the nature of this aether, Albert Michelson published in 1881 his laboratory experiments where he had light travel in the direction of the earth’s motion and perpendicular to it.
“This meant that Michelson had overestimated by a factor of two the fringe shifts originally expected.” The mirror at c also moved forward at the same time, but this was not taken into account.