On the Speed of Light
Sven Gelbhaar
12.05.2019
Foucault devised a way with which to measure the speed of light. The assumption
that light is always traveling at a certain speed is, however, presumptuous.
When we look at other sub-atomic particles we see variations in speed
throughout, and yet we presume that light differs from the rest? So far only
two major attempts have been attempted to devise the speed(s) of light.
The first, as was discussed previously, was done by Willem de Sitter in the
study of a double-star pair. He reasoned that the two stars’ light would work
upon each other causing a distortion in color when one star was traveling away
from us and the other toward us. During the transition of these stars, one
speeding up as the other recedes, he reasoned would be enough to change the
color of the light emanating from the pair.
Let us reason this out, however. The speed of light has been measured to be
300,000,000 m/s. How fast were these stars moving, relative to the recorded
speed of light? Not all that fast, one can reasonably say. Now we recall that
he was using a rudimentary telescope at a tiny point of light, hoping to see
color variations in x-rays. This of course is not very likely, even if the
stars retrograde (etc) velocity were even close to that of light. Furthermore,
the problem is compounded by how unimaginably small these particles are, and how
unlikely they would work upon each other resulting with a final vector toward
us, the observer. I could work this out algebraically, but I leave this as an
exercise to the reader.
Now let us see how light can and indeed does interact with itself in distances
that aren’t exactly astronomical.
Michel Foucault thought up an ingenious method by which to measure light using a
laser and a moving mirror. He knew the exact time that the light was emitted,
and he knew the distance, and the angle of the reflected light. I don’t contend
that his method was in-effective in doing what he proposed, that is: it measured
the speed of light for that laser, at that voltage, with that current, etc. We
have published a rather conclusive paper showing that photons and electrons are
very much the same thing. Faraday rotation proves, at the very least, that
light is electrically-active. Now, given that light and electrons are analogues
if not completely equivalent, we can suppose that the their emission rates are
affected by the factors listed above. That laser, that current and voltage, in
that environment. It would be another thing to prove it with a different sort
of laser, or even with variance in the current applied to emit these photons.
And now for some closing considerations. As light is electrically active, we
can suppose that it shares other properties with electrons. Electrons repel one
another, and so then must photons. Photons, even if not emitted at a specific
frequency over time, will repel one another until equilibrium is attained if the
frequency is fast enough, and if the distances between these photons is small
enough. That is to say that photons emitted by other sources might not all
travel at a uniform speed. Naturally this is a probabilistic problem, and all
things eventually reach equilibrium — or something close enough — to account
for spectral emissions being uniform in their spread, if not their frequencies
(as probability of light reaching us from a source decreases exponentially over
distance, covered in a previous paper as well).
There is much yet to be considered, but obviously a test taking these things
into account would prove conclusively that photons do not all travel at one
speed. I look forward to seeing experimental data in this regard.