The quantum medium view is simply the logical consequences of the following premise which is in keeping with the views of James Maxwell who, in the 1860s, developed the successful and prevailing theory of electromagnetic phenomena.

Maxwell used his theory to calculate the speed of light through the ether or medium. This speed through the medium is 300 million absolute meters per absolute second when the light is not impeded by matter (e.g. air, glass) or the presence of large masses.

     We will see shortly why an absolute meter (ma) is greater than a virtual meter (m) determined by an observer who is moving through the medium (e.g. an observer on Earth) and who assumes that the speed of light in her reference frame is constant. We will also see why an absolute second (sa) kept by a clock at rest in the medium is a smaller time interval than a virtual second (s) kept by a clock moving through the medium. It will become apparent that considerable perplexing phenomena, including relativistic length contraction, time dilation, and mass increase, as well as the null results of Michelson-Morley experiments, the observed constant speed of light relative to all observers, and inertia, are consequences of this premise.

Earth's velocity through the quantum medium

     The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the best current indication of our velocity through the qm. A discussion of this can be found by clicking the "Detecting the QM" button on the home page. Briefly, the CMB dipole (the asymmetry of the frequency pattern of the CMB radiation) indicates that the solar system has a velocity through the qm of about .0012 times the speed of light through the medium. This velocity is toward the constellation Leo. Although this is a plausible explanation for the CMB dipole, the following discussion does not depend on this being correct.

Figures A and B
     Figures A and B each show five spaceships (black rectangles) in a diamond formation. In Fig. A the five ships are at rest relative to the quantum medium which is represented by gray + marks. The distance between the center ship and each of the other four ships is 1 absolute light-second (LS).   1 LS is the distance that light travels through the qm in 1 sa (i.e. 300 million ma). The green distance scales around the border of Fig. A are in absolute light-second units (LS) and the small marks are spaced 0.1 LS apart. In Fig. B the five ships are moving through the medium with an absolute velocity (va) of .8 ca as shown. (The medium is shown moving relative to the coordinate system of the ships.) Absolute velocity means the velocity of any reference frame or physical system through the qm. (Note: If figures A and B do not have moving dots, try enabling your browser's "animations" option or try disabling your browser's "accelerator" which may show only one frame of animations. If you cannot get figures A and B animated, skip this web page because the moving dots are needed for understanding the text.)

+1 0 -1

Figure A va=0 ca rv=1 N=1

Figure B va=.8 ca rv=.6 N=9

+1 0 -1

     Figures A and B show light signals (brief bursts of photons from light sources on the ships) being sent between the center ship and the other four ships. In Fig. A the light signals are shown as gray dots. In Fig. B the light signals are shown as blue dots or red dots, depending on whether the signals are blueshifted or redshifted due to the motion of the ships through the medium. The reasons for the Doppler blueshifts and redshifts are the same as the reasons for sound energy from the horn of a railroad locomotive being shifted to a higher frequency or lower frequency depending on whether the sound is moving in the direction of the train's motion through the medium or in the opposite direction.

     In spite of the large differences between figures A and B, the observers aboard the spaceships in B will make the same observations as the observers aboard the ships in A. In both cases the observers detect that the four outer ships are spaced 1 observed light-second from the center ship and that light signals are sent and received at 1 second intervals from each of the ships. The observed light-second distances are each 1 virtual light second (ls) which is the distance between two points in a reference frame where a round-trip light signal between the points takes 2 s according to the clocks in the reference frame. 1 ls in A is the same as 1 LS. 1 ls in B is not a constant unit of distance. It can be seen in Fig. B that the 1 ls distance between the center ship and the forward and rearward ships is less than the 1 ls distance between the center ship and the two ships in the transverse direction. It will now be shown why the light-second distances and seconds of time observed in B are not the same units of distance and time observed in A.

Distance and time in diamond formation A
     In Fig. A, the speed of light (cr) relative to the diamond formation is constant because formation A is not moving through the qm. In maintaining the spacing of the ships in their diamond formation, observers on the ships use laser light ranging to determine distances. For example, observers on the outer four ships know that they are spaced 1 ls from the center ship when they send a laser light pulse to the center ship and the reflected light arrives back 2 s after the pulse is sent. If the time for a round-trip signal from an outer ship is greater or less than 2 s, the outer ship is moved toward or away from the center ship until the round-trip travel time is 2 s. Because formation A is at rest in the qm, the observed ls distances in A are 1 LS. This is not the case in Fig. B.
     The observers on the spaceships need clocks for measuring time. To help make this explanation understandable, we will assume that each ship has a clock comprised of a 1 meter-long box within which a light signal is sent back and forth between the ends of the box. The clock counts the number of round trips of the light signal, and for every 150 million round trips, the clock advances 1 second. The clock's 1 meter-long box is oriented transverse to the main axis of the spaceship. In diamond formation A the clocks keep absolute time and each 1 s displayed on a clock is 1 sa. In diamond formation B the clocks do not keep absolute time. The following shows why.

Distance and time in diamond formation B
     In Fig. B the speed of light (cr) relative to the diamond formation is not constant. Photons moving in the direction of the ship's motion through the qm have a velocity of only .2 ca relative to the ships. Photons moving in the opposite direction have a velocity of 1.8 ca relative to the ships. The speed of light (cr) relative to any inertial reference frame (e.g. formation B) depends on the absolute velocity (va) of the reference frame through the qm. The maximum speed of light (crx) and the minimum speed of light (crn) are functions of va as follows, where all velocities are in units of ca.
In diamond formation B where va=.8 ca, crx=1.8 ca and crn=.2 ca. These maximum and minimum speeds of light in B represent an inherent asymmetry which has interesting consequences. It results in a foreshortened diamond formation, as shown in Fig. B, and it results in slow clocks in B.
     The clocks in B run at only .6 times the rate of clocks in A because the speed of the light signals oscillating within the clocks in B is only .6 ca relative to the clocks. The photons moving between the ends of the 1 meter-long boxes must have a component of their 1 ca velocity through the qm be .8 ca in the direction of the diamond formation's absolute velocity through the qm. Therefore, the component of the photons' velocity in the transverse direction is .6 ca.
     The reasons for the spacing between the ships in Fig. B can now be understood. The two outer ships transverse to the formation's direction of absolute motion are spaced 1 LS from the center ship because the round-trip laser light ranging signals are moving at only .6 ca between the ships but the clocks used for measuring the travel time for the signals are running at only .6 times their at-rest rate. (The term at-rest means when a clock or other physical system is brought to rest in the qm.) The ship forward of the center ship is .6 LS from the center ship because its laser light signal takes .6/1.8 or .3333 sa to reach the center ship and .6/.2 or 3 sa to return from the center ship, or 3.3333 sa total travel time for the round-trip signal. During this 3.3333 sa, the clock aboard the forward ship advances .6·3.3333 or 2 s, and the observers aboard the forward ship conclude that they are 1 ls from the center ship. The ship rearward of the center ship is also .6 LS from the center ship for the same reasons.

Energy Exchange Rate and Physical Change Ratio
     Due to the motion of the diamond formation through the qm in Fig. B, the rate of round-trip energy exchange in B is less than in A. This is apparent by observing the relatively slow speed of the blueshifted photons moving in the forward direction in B. Photons moving from the center ship to the forward ship are moving at only .2 ca relative to the ships and they take 3 sa to traverse the .6 LS distance between the ships. Photons moving in the opposite direction have a velocity of 1.8 ca relative to the ships and take .3333 sa to traverse the .6 LS distance. Thus the round-trip energy exchange between the center ship and forward ship in B takes 3.3333 sa. This is also the time for a round-trip energy exchange between the center ship and the other three ships in B. In diamond formation A the time for the round-trip energy exchange is 2 sa. Therefore, the rate of energy exchange in B is only 2/3.3333 or .6 times its at-rest rate of energy exchange.
     If a spaceship (or any physical system) in diamond formation A is accelerated to the velocity va of formation B, it will become foreshortened for the same reason formation B is foreshortened -- to achieve rates of energy exchange in the system that appear to observers or other subsystems of the ship to be identical to the rates when the ship was at rest in the qm. As the absolute velocity of the spaceship increases, a greater decrease in the rate of round-trip energy exchange occurs along lines parallel to va than along lines transverse to va unless the system contracts in the direction of absolute motion. A foreshortening between atoms and within atoms occurs to avoid an imbalance in energy exchange between and within the atoms. Atoms and the constituents of atoms will experience the same interactions in foreshortened configurations moving through the qm as they experience when not foreshortened and at rest in the qm.
     The foreshortening causes different standards of distance in the system. In formation B the standard of distance in the direction of va is less than the standard in the transverse direction and less than the standard in A. A 1 m long measuring stick in B is only .6 ma long when oriented parallel to va, and its length increases to 1 ma as it is turned perpendicular to va. Observers in B, like observers on Earth, are unaware of such changes in the lengths of measuring instruments.
     If the spaceship could attain an absolute velocity approaching ca, the rate of round-trip energy exchange within the ship would approach zero. The rates of all clocks and other processes within the ship would approach zero. The energy within the ship would be greatly increased because almost all of the photons within the ship would have large blueshifts and corresponding high energies. But observers in the ship would not detect the blueshifts or energy increase because the photons would be redshifted upon being absorbed. (This is discussed in more detail in the main document on this web site.)
     For any physical system moving through the qm, the foreshortening of the system, the slowing of processes in the system, and the increase in internal energy of the system can be determined via the system's physical change ratio (rv) which is the ratio of the rate of round-trip energy exchange in the system to the at-rest rate. This ratio is a function of crx and crn, or va, as follows. In Fig. B, where va=.8 ca, crx=1.8 ca and crn=.2 ca, the preceding equations give rv=.6.

Physical Changes on All Scales due to a system's velocity va through the qm.

     To appreciate the physical effects in a body due to its motion through the medium we will refer to figures C and D. These figures show a complex system having x, y, and z axes along which subsystems are located. The subsystems are comprised of components represented by red squares. The symbols and represent nucleus and satellite systems of mass/energy on small and large scales. On an atomic scale they represent subatomic particles interacting with one another in their atomic and subatomic configurations, whatever these "interactions" and dynamic "configurations" may be. For example, could be a system of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom and could be an electron that is interacting with other electrons and with its atom's nucleus. Because the positions and momentums of the subatomic systems are constantly changing, the interactions must involve exchanges of energy between these subsystems, and the energy is transferred through the medium according to the above premise. On a large scale, the red squares could be spaceships in formations with the nucleus ships in the center of the formations exchanging quanta of energy with the satellite ships spaced a given distance from the nuclei of their formations as in figures A and B above.



     Whether a system of mass/energy is a large-scale system such as a formation of spaceships or a small-scale system such as an atom, the system will experience a slowing of the rate of round-trip energy exchange within the system and a foreshortening of the system due to its velocity through the qm as shown in figures B and D. Whether and are spaceships or subatomic particles, an observer or body in their system in Fig. D will not sense the slowed rate of round-trip energy exchange or the foreshortening of the system. For an observer in the system of Fig. D who is not aware of the consequences of the system's velocity through the medium, the rates of interactions and distances observed in Fig. D will be the same as observed in Fig. C.

Changes in Rates of Physical Processes
     It was stated above that all physical processes (including all kinds of clocks) are slowed from their at-rest rates in proportion to the physical change ratio, rv. Analyses of the effects of motion through the qm on various time keeping systems indicate that the statement is true. For example, a clock based on the natural vibration frequency of an atom will run slower in B than in A if the atom's rate of vibration depends upon the rate of energy exchange within the atom, which is less in B than in A. Or, the light clock discussed above will run slower in B regardless of its orientation relative to the direction of va. If the clock is turned so that the 1 m long light box is parallel with va, the length of the box will decrease to .6 ma but the time for 150 million round trips of a light signal within the box will continue to be 1.6666 sa. Regardless of the orientation of the clock, 1 s on the clock will be 1.6666 sa.
     The main document on this web site discusses another kind of clock whose rate is in proportion to rv. Many different time keeping systems can be conceived, and if one can be found whose rate is not proportional to rv, it might be used for determining Earth's absolute velocity.

Twins Paradox of Special Relativity Theory
     If two identical clocks (or twins) are together in diamond formation A, or in B, and one of the clocks makes a round trip, the round trip will result in the traveling clock aging less than the nontraveling clock. Relativity theory predicts this phenomenon but does not explain why it should occur. There seems to be a paradox because each clock travels relative to the other and should be slowed relative to the other if relative motion causes the slowing.

     In the quantum medium view, the clock slowing occurs because the trip causes changes in the absolute velocity, va, and the physical change ratio, rv, for the traveling clock. The rv equation above can be used to determine rv and the amount that the clock will advance during each part of any particular round trip. Regardless of the speeds or distances involved in the round trip, the traveling clock will always return having advanced less than the clock that did not travel. The main document on this web site explains this in detail and shows that the slowing due to the changes in rv is exactly the same as the slowing predicted by special relativity theory and confirmed by experiment.

     We will consider a simple example of two clocks located aboard the center spaceship in Fig. B and will let one clock make a round trip to the forward ship. To simplify the math, we can assume that the clock travels with a velocity of .001 ca relative to the spaceships. Thus the clock has absolute velocities of .801 ca and .799 ca during the two legs of the trip because the spaceship system has an absolute velocity of .8 ca. Each leg of the trip will take 600 sa because the ships are .6 LS apart. Knowing the absolute velocities for the clocks, we can use the second rv equation above to calculate the physical change ratios for the clocks during the round trip. The nontraveling clock will have a physical change ratio of .6 and it will advance 360 s during each leg of the trip and 720 s during the round trip. During the first leg of the trip the traveling clock will have a physical change ratio of .598644 and it will advance 359.198608 s. During the return trip the physical change ratio will be .601331 and the clock will advance 360.798614 s. Therefore, during the round trip the traveling clock will advance 719.997222 s and it will lose .002778 s relative to the nontraveling clock. This is exactly the "relativistic slowing" that an observer in the reference frame of Fig. B will expect due to the observed travel times and relative velocities between the two clocks. (The observed relative velocities will not be .001 c, as the main document on this web site explains and as the reader can probably determine after becoming familiar with the asynchronization RULE explained below. The observed relative velocity will be .002771 c for the first leg and .002784 c for the return trip and the traveling clock will appear to be slowed by .001386 s during the first leg and .001392 s during the return trip for a total slowing of .002778 s relative to the nontraveling clock.)

Relativistic Length Contraction and Time Dilation
     It has been shown why bodies and clocks in the diamond formation of Fig. B should be foreshortened and evolve at a slower rate than the bodies and clocks in Fig. A, and it seems reasonable that observers in A should be able to observe the foreshortening of bodies and the slowness of clocks in B. But why should observers in B observe a "relativistic" foreshortening of the diamond formation in A when no foreshortening exists? And why should observers in B observe that the clocks in A are running at only .6 times the rate of clocks in B when just the opposite is true? Several factors combine to cause the virtual length contraction and time dilation determined by the observers in B. These factors include the shortened units of distance in B, the slowness of clocks in B, the observers' lack of awareness of the actual distance and time units kept by their measuring instruments, and the observers' belief that the speed of light is constant in their diamond formation. Now it will be shown how these factors cause an asynchronization of clocks in B and cause observers in B to see virtual, nonexistent length contraction and clock slowing in A.

Asynchronization of Clocks in B: In both diamond formations A and B, the observers aboard the 4 outer ships in each formation "virtually synchronize" their clocks with the center-ship clock by setting their clocks to the time, t, they see on the center-ship clock plus 1 additional second because each observer believes that she is 1 ls from the center ship and that the light from the center-ship clock took 1 s to reach her and that the center-ship clock must be reading t+1 s. In diamond formation A this procedure results in all the clocks being synchronized.
     In diamond formation B this synchronizing procedure results in an asynchronization of the clocks as follows. When the center-ship clock read t seconds, the light containing the time t image began moving toward the other 4 ships. The light took 3 sa to reach the forward ship because the ship is .6 LS from the center ship and the light was moving with a speed of .2 ca relative to the ships. During this 3 sa, the center-ship clock (which is evolving at .6 times its at-rest rate) advanced .6·3 sa or 1.8 s and it reads t+1.8 s. But the observer at the forward ship sees t s and sets her clock to read t+1.0 s. Therefore, the forward-ship clock is set .8 s retarded relative to the center-ship clock.

     The light containing the center-ship clock time t image moved toward the rearward ship with a speed of 1.8 ca relative to the ships and took only .6 LS/1.8 ca or .3333 sa to reach the rear ship. During this .3333 sa the center-ship clock advanced .6·.3333 sa or .2 s and it reads t+.2 seconds. But the observer at the rearward ship sees t s and sets her clock to read t+1.0 s. Therefore, the rearward-ship clock is set .8 s advanced relative to the center-ship clock. The following rule specifies the asynchronization between any two clocks in an inertial reference frame (e.g. in B).

     RULE: In any inertial reference frame moving through the medium, two clocks which have been virtually synchronized are out of sync by an amount equal to the absolute velocity of the reference frame times the observed ls distance between the clocks in the direction of absolute motion. The forward clock is set retarded relative to the rearward clock.

     According to this RULE, clocks aboard the two spaceships located in the transverse direction in the diamond formation in B should be synchronized with the center-ship clock (because the observed distance between the two clocks is zero in the direction of absolute motion). We will check this and will see that the synchronization is the result of offsetting errors by the observers as follows. The light which left the center-ship clock when the clock read t s was moving toward the transverse-direction ships with a speed of .6 ca relative to the ships (as discussed above) and the light took 1 LS/.6 ca or 1.6666 sa to travel the 1 LS distance. During this 1.6666 sa the center-ship clock advanced .6·1.6666 or 1 s and it reads t+1 s, which is the same time the observers in the transverse-direction ships set on their clocks by assuming that the travel time for the light was 1 s.

Physical Causes of Virtual Time Dilation: The reader is asked to imagine the diamond formation of Fig. B superimposed on Fig. A so that the center ship and transverse ships in B are aligned with their respective ships in A. A small clearance between the planes of formations A and B prevents collisions. Because formation B is moving with a velocity of va=.8 ca through the qm and through Fig A, it is only momentarily aligned with formation A. This moment in absolute time will be designated ta=0 sa.

     The clocks aboard the center ships have been set so that they read 0 s when these ships are momentarily next to one another. We can use the above RULE and rv equation to determine the time that will be displayed on any other clock in B or A at time ta=0 sa or at any other time. We will use the RULE and equation to determine several time and distance events that are seen by the observers in the diamond formations. The events are designated by brackets, [   ].

     All the observers see the event, [The center ships in A and B are next to one another and the clocks aboard the ships read 0 s]. At time ta=0 sa when this event occurred, the distance between the center ship in A and the rearward ship in B was .6 LS and the ships were moving toward one another with a relative velocity of .8 ca. Therefore, at time ta=.75 sa these two ships meet at a second event, [The center-ship clock in A reading .75 s is next to the rearward-ship clock in B reading 1.25 s]. The center-ship clock in A reads .75 s because rv=1 for diamond formation A and clocks in A keep absolute time. The rearward-ship clock in B reads 1.25 s because it was reading +.8 s at time ta=0 sa (via the above RULE) and because the physical change ratio for the clock is rv=.6 so that during .75 sa it advanced only .45 s.

     Based on their observations of the two events, the observers in formation B conclude that the center ship in A moved 1 ls through formation B in 1.25 s and that during the 1.25 s the center-ship clock in A advanced .75 s or only .75/1.25 or .6 times the rate of the clocks in B. This is the virtual relativistic time dilation seen by all observers in B.

      Observers in A correctly observe that that the clocks in B are running slower than the clocks in A but, like observers in B, they do not understand the physical causes of their observations.

     The two events also lead observers in B to conclude that the center ship in A moved 1 ls through B (not the .6 LS actual distance) and that the travel time was 1.25 s (not the actual .75 sa travel time). These two offsetting errors resulted in the observers in B concluding that the velocity of A through B was 1 ls/1.25 s or .8 c.

Physical Causes of Virtual Length Contraction:
     Knowing the .8 c relative velocity between A and B, observers in B believe that they can determine the distance formation A moves past a clock in B during a time specified by the clock. They observe a third event, [The center-ship clock in B reading .75 s is at the forward-ship clock in A reading 1.25 s] and they conclude that formation A must have moved (.75 s)·(.8 c) or .6 ls past the center-ship clock in B and that formation A is therefore only .6 times as long as formation B. This is the virtual relativistic length contraction seen by all observers in B.

     We have used several convenient events to demonstrate that observers in diamond formation B will observe a virtual and nonexistent length contraction and slowing of clocks in diamond formation A. The observers could have observed other events to reach the same conclusions, and the reader can verify that this is so. The main document on this web site also covers the case where two reference frames which are moving relative to one another are both moving through the qm. In this case observers in both reference frames all determine the same relative velocity between the reference frames, but the velocity they determine is not the true, absolute velocity. Nevertheless, the observations of all the observers fit exactly with the predictions of special relativity theory and with experimental evidence.

Physical Causes for Not Detecting an Ether or Variations in Light Speed
     Underlying causes for the observed constant speed of light should now be apparent. If we measure the time for light to make a round trip over a path of known length, the observed time will always be the same regardless of the velocity of the apparatus through the qm or the orientation of the apparatus. If the absolute velocity of the apparatus is increased, the absolute time for the round-trip light signal will increase, but the units of time for the clock measuring the signal travel time will also increase. Or, if the orientation of the apparatus is changed so that the length of the light path increases, the speeds of the photons along the path will change so that the round-trip travel time is exactly the same.
     One might think that it should be easy to detect differences in the one-way speed of light -- in diamond formation B for instance where the speed from the forward ship to the center ship is 9 times the speed in the other direction. Why can't the observers in the diamond formation simply get two clocks together in the center ship and set them to the same time and then transport one clock to the forward ship and then use the two clocks to determine the time between when a light signal is sent from the center ship to the time when the signal is received at the forward ship? The reason is that the clock which is transported to the forward ship will be slowed by .8 s regardless of the speed at which the clock is transported. For ease of calculation, let's assume that the clock is transported at a speed of .001 ca from the center ship to the forward ship. The trip will take .6 LS/.001 ca or 600 sa. During this 600 sa the physical change ratio for the traveling clock will be rv=(1-.801²)^1/2 or .598664 (via the last equation above) and the clock will advance 359.2 s from the time it left the center ship. The clock which remained aboard the center ship will advance .6·600 sa or 360 s and will be .8 s ahead of the clock which was transported. This .8 s asynchronization of the clocks is exactly enough to make it appear that the speed of light is the same in both directions between the center and forward ships because during the 3 sa travel time for a light signal moving in the forward direction the clocks advance 1.8 s and during the .3333 sa travel time for a light signal moving in the rearward direction the clocks advance .2 s, and in both cases the .8 s asynchronization of the clocks makes it appear that the travel time is 1 s.

     In addition to providing physical causes for the observed constant speed of light, the quantum medium view also explains why Michelson-Morley type experiments are unable to detect the qm or ether. The geometry of the experimental apparatus depends upon the orientation of the apparatus so that changes in light speed are exactly offset by changes in geometry -- as George Fitzgerald and Hendrik Lorentz suggested in 1892. At that time their suggestion seemed to be an ad hoc way to preserve the concept of an ether because there seemed to be no logical reason for the shape of the apparatus to depend on its orientation. It was not until after the introduction of special relativity theory in the early 1900s that Ernest Rutherford demonstrated that a body's structure is mostly empty space. He showed that even very dense materials like gold have an open structure as in figures C and D above. By that time physicists were concluding that light was not propagated through an ether, relativity theory was becoming established, and there was little reason to explore the consequences of a medium through which light and other quanta of energy are propagated.

Inertia, Mass, and Newton's Second Law of Motion
     If the spaceship formation in A accelerates to the velocity of the formation in B, the observers in the ships will be aware that a huge amount of work is done by the ships' engines, but it will not be clear to the observers why work is required for changing the velocity. Figures A and B indicate why work is required. There is a large change in the pattern of energy within the diamond formation. In A the pattern of energy is balanced but in B much more energy within the diamond formation is moving through the qm in the direction of va than is moving in the opposite direction. Further, diamond formation B has a larger internal energy due to the high ratio of blueshifted photons to redshifted photons.

     Current physics theory and experiment both indicate that a body's mass has an internal energy equivalent. In the quantum medium view a body's mass is comprised entirely of oscillating wave/particle quanta of energy (e.g. photons) in the qm. Because a 1 kg mass represents a large amount of internal energy, changing the pattern of the internal energy by even a small amount requires considerable work. A body's internal energy is analogous to a flywheel. Changing the body's velocity requires changing the body's pattern of internal energy which requires a force and work, much as changing the speed of rotation of a flywheel requires a force and work, regardless of the direction of rotation, the speed of rotation, or whether the speed is increased or decreased.

     This view of a body's inertia or natural resistance to having its velocity changed agrees with Newton's Second Law of Motion expressed as follows, where m is the mass of a body, a is the acceleration or rate of change of the body's velocity, and F is the force on the body required to achieve the acceleration. About a century ago it was found that this equation is not consistent with experiments in which bodies are accelerated to high speeds (e.g. experiments where electrons or other particles are moving at high speeds). The experiments indicated that bodies accelerated to high speeds became more massive, a phenomenon not accounted for by Newtonian mechanics. The ability of special relativity theory to predict this mass increase contributed to the theory's success. The quantum medium view explains why the mass of a body increases with an increase in absolute velocity of the body, and it indicates how Newton's Second Law can be modified slightly to make it consistent with phenomena involving bodies moving at high speeds. This modification is as follows, and the rationale for the modification is explained in the main document on this web site. This equation shows that for a given force F the acceleration of mass m depends on the physical change ratio rv which, in turn, depends on the absolute velocity of m. This is why the kinetic energy (ke) of a mass m is not m·v²/2 when the absolute velocity of m is large.
     In the quantum medium view, a 1 kg mass at rest in the quantum medium has an internal energy of 1 absolute kilogram (kga) or 9·10¹⁶ joules. If this mass is accelerated by a force F, its absolute velocity increases according to the above equation. When the absolute velocity is low, the acceleration is closely approximated by F=m·a and the kinetic energy of the body is closely approximated by ke=m·v²/2. For example, if the 1 kg mass is accelerated by a 1 N force for 1 second, the acceleration will be 1 m/s², the velocity after 1 s will be 1 m/s, and the kinetic energy of the mass will be m·v²/2 or .5 joules. This is the same energy as the work done by force F (where work=F·distance) because the distance moved by the mass is .5 m.
     If we continue to accelerate mass m with a 1 N force for many 1 s increments, mass m will increase and will be equal to m_o/rv, where m_o is the mass of m when at rest in the qm. As the number of increments increases and rv becomes smaller and m becomes larger, the acceleration decreases, and more work is required for a given change in the velocity of m. The amount of work required to accelerate m to any given absolute velocity is equal to the sum of the increments of work during all the time increments. This total amount of work is exactly equal to the change in mass or change in the internal energy of the 1 kg mass [i.e. (m_o/rv)-m_o]. For example, accelerating a 1 kg mass from va=0 to va=3·10⁶ ma/sa (i.e. .01 ca, rv=0.99995) requires 4.50033·10¹² joules of work and the kinetic energy specified by ke=m·v²/2 is 4.50022·10¹² joules. The ratio of these energies is .999975. The ratio approaches .5 as the velocity va to which the 1 kg mass is accelerated approaches 1 ca. This is shown in the following alignment chart.      Thus Newtonian mechanics requires only slight modification to make it applicable for bodies moving with high velocities. Three hundred years ago there was no way for Newton to be aware of the relationship between a body's mass and its velocity. Surely Newton would want his laws of motion to be brought into agreement with this relationship.
Conclusion
     The above information indicates the existence of a medium through which wave/particle quanta of energy are propagated. The logical consequences of this medium include inertia, the observed constant speed of light, "relativistic" phenomena, and other phenomena covered elsewhere on this web site and in the quantum medium view booklet.

     Although relativity theory is in agreement with experimental evidence, the theory's interpretation of the evidence is probably misleading. The speed of photons arriving at our eyes is probably not independent of our motions in our environments as the theory assumes. And the "relativistic" slowing of a clock or increase in mass of a body is probably not due to relative motion between the clock or body and the observer as the theory suggests. Also inherent in relativity theory is the inability of observers in different inertial reference frames (e.g. an observer in A and an observer in B) to agree on the time of an event or the location of an event (e.g. when or where the center ship in B met the forward ship in A). This inability to agree on times and locations of events in nature is unnecessary. The quantum medium view permits observers in all reference frames to agree on the rates of clocks, the lengths of measuring rods, the masses of bodies, and when and where events occur, as explained in the quantum medium view booklet and in the main document on this web site.

Note to the Reader:
     It is not easy to understand the complex consequences of the simple premise above. A gauge of the reader's understanding of the consequences is the reader's ability to answer the questions at the beginning of this page.

     If the reader has questions or suggestions concerning the above explanation or about other parts of this web site, please feel free to contact me. And if the reader finds this web site of interest, please bring it to the attention of others who might be interested. Peter Allport