8.16 The Postulate of Photon Absoluteness

Home ／ Chapter 8: Paradigm Theories Challenged by Energy Filament Theory

I. Textbook Picture

• What a photon is and how it propagates: a basic excitation of the electromagnetic field that needs no medium. In vacuum it travels at the constant speed of light c; in small regions all observers measure the same c, the highest information speed.
• Zero mass and transverse modes only: the photon’s rest mass is strictly zero, so it cannot stand still and must move at c. Far from sources, radiation carries exactly two transverse polarizations; near-field energy around antennas or atoms is bound, not “en-route photons.”

II. Difficulties and Long-Running Explanatory Costs

• “No medium” vs. a structured quantum vacuum: we say vacuum needs no medium, yet we discuss vacuum fluctuations. For readers, this sounds like “vacuum is both empty and not,” which strains intuition.
• “Exactly zero mass” is only an upper-bound game: experiments can squeeze the upper bound but cannot prove “equals zero.” “Exactly zero” and “too small to see” are different ideas.
• Transverse-only vs. near-field confusion: bound near-field components are often mistaken for evidence of a longitudinal traveling mode. Clean separation is needed.
• Unified story for path and environment: timing, polarization rotation, and tiny anomalies near strong fields are split between geometry and interactions; giving one intuitive, medium-free story is hard.

III. Restatement by Energy Filament Theory (EFT) with Testable Clues

EFT does not reintroduce ether or a preferred frame and preserves local agreement of measurements. It recasts how “vacuum allows disturbances to propagate” as an outward material property of an almost uniform energy ocean threaded by filaments.

1. What a photon is: a ripple on the ocean—not a hidden medium. It does not require a carrier or a preferred frame; locally everyone reads the same c.
2. Why “zero mass”: there is no stable standstill state for such ripples. Attempts to halt them simply return the disturbance to the background. Phenomenologically, this equals zero rest mass and explains motion at c.
3. Why only transverse modes far away: energy is reliably exported by sideways tugging. Compression–stretching along the path behaves like a near-field wake that cannot travel far; it is bound energy, not an on-route photon.
4. “Absolute c” reframed: locally the ceiling is the same for all observers; over long paths and extreme environments, travel time and polarization differences can accumulate. That is path-and-environment co-action, not a contradiction in a single cosmic number.
5. Testable clues:
   • Near- vs. far-field split: around controlled radiators, measure bound components and radiative components together. Only the far field should carry two transverse polarizations and decay with distance as a propagating wave.
   • No-dispersion consistency: along clean vacuum paths, different bands should arrive in the same order. If a uniform timing bias appears while inter-band ratios hold, blame path and environment, not frequency-dependent dispersion.
   • Polarization as a path fingerprint: in strong or evolving regions, polarization may rotate or decohere in a geometry-linked, repeatable way. If bands show same-direction, same-magnitude changes, an environment-unified rewrite is favored.
   • Stability of heterogeneous yardsticks: time and distance measured by different instrument types along the same route should yield stable dimensionless ratios even if absolute readings co-drift—supporting “local ceiling plus path accumulation.”

IV. How EFT Recasts the Postulate (Synthesis)

• From “vacuum without medium” to “no ether, but material-like properties of vacuum”: no preferred frame, yet an energy ocean explains how disturbances propagate.
• From “strictly zero mass” to “no rest state”: switch a logic claim we cannot prove experimentally into a mechanism we can picture; the phenomena match zero rest mass.
• From “transverse-only” to “far-field transverse, near-field bound”: separate what travels from what clings to sources, removing the usual misread.
• From “absolute c” to “local ceiling plus path accumulation”: unanimous locally; differences accrue across domains, consistent with relativity’s local agreement.
• From slogans to measurable ratios: use dimensionless comparisons, near/far separation, polarization fingerprints, and cross-instrument checks to ground the discussion.