Einstein’s Explanation of the Unexplainable
Einstein tells us particles with mass cannot move faster than the speed of light while Quantum Mechanics tells us that all energy including electromagnetic MUST be quantized and therefore it assumes it is propagated by a particle called a photon.
However, because observations of particles in particle accelerators APPEARS to verify Einstein assumption that if photons had mass, they COULD NOT move at the speed of light one must assume that they have no mass.
But if it has no mass, it also has no energy because his equation E=mc^2 tells us energy is equivalent to mass.
(Some have tried to use a mathematical argument the equation E=mc^2 is a special case of the more general equation: E2 = p2c2 + m2c4 which for a particle with no mass (m = 0), reduces down to E = pc. Therefore, because photons (particles of light) have no mass, they must obey E = pc and they get all of their energy from their momentum. However, the “p” in the equation NOT ONLY represents the momentum of a photon it also represents the energy associated with its motion. Thus, according to E=mc^2 that energy MUST also be considered mass.)
Putting it another way Einstein tells us it does NOT MATER how we define the energy of a photon the fact that it has energy means it also has mass and therefore, SHOULD NOT be able move at the speed of light.
Some have also suggested that because “E” is the total relativistic energy, which consists of rest mass (mc^2), and momentum (pc) it is fundamentally wrong to say that anything with energy has mass. Therefore, a photon with momentum can still carry energy even if it has no rest mass.
However, momentum is defined as p = mv in Newtonian physics and in relativity p=mc. Therefore, it is FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG as some have suggested to say that the momentum of a photon can have ZERO mass because if it did the energy value of particle with no or 0 mass define by E = pc would be zero.
Therefore, because observations of particles in particle accelerators APPEAR to verify Einstein assumption that if photons had energy, they COULD NOT move at the speed of light one needs to explain how its energy can be propagated at that speed in terms of his theories.
One can use the science of wave mechanics to understand how this is possible because it tells us waves move energy from one location to another without transporting the material they are moving on. In other words, the molecules that make up the wave remain stationary with respect to the background of the water while its energy is propagated through it.
Similarly, an electromagnetic wave in space-time COULD move at the speed of light because it does not move the “units” of space-time associated with the peaks and valleys it creates but would transmit their energy to the next one. In other words, the units of space-time that make up an electromagnetic wave WOULD remain stationary with respect to the background of space-time while its energy moves through it in the form of a wave.
However, one can also use the science of wave mechanics to understand why an electromagnetic wave ALWAYS takes on the form of a particle called a photon when it interacts with an observer or the its environment.
For example, wave mechanics tells us an electromagnetic wave would move through space-time unless it is prevented from doing so by someone observing or interacting with it. This would result in its energy being confined to three-dimensional space. It also tells us the three-dimensional “walls” of this confinement will result in its energy being reflected back on itself thereby creating a resonant or standing wave in three-dimensional space. This would cause its wave energy to be concentrated at the point in space were a particle would be found. Additionally, wave mechanics also tells us the energy of a resonant system, such as a standing wave can only take on the discrete or quantized values associated with its fundamental or a harmonic of its fundamental frequency. This explains how and why an electromagnetic energy wave becomes quantized in the form of a particle called a photon if it is prevented from moving through space-time by interacting an observer or the “external world”.
Quantum mechanics uses the mathematical properties of the wavefunction to define a quantum environment and states that it maintains its wave properties and becomes quantized ONLY repeat ONLY when it is observed or interacts with its external environment.
Therefore, as was shown above assuming a photons energy is propagated by a electromagnetic wave allows one to understand why it appears as a particle called a photon ONLY when it interacts with its environment or an observer in a manner that is consistent with the assumptions of both of Einstein Theories and Quantum mechanics.
However, it also shows how, if one assumes as was just done that electromagnetic energy is propagated BY a wave NOT by a particle one can explain how its energy can be propagated at the speed of light.