A widespread deception began immediately after the valid equations for light were first published. While Maxwell’s equations didn’t assume to describe the nature of light, people assumed light must be electromagnetic because Maxwell’s equations appeared to describe light. Light is electromagnetism, so they were correct. However, a confusing narrative was immediately pushed on the people that defied Maxwell’s descriptions.
They started using language about a “photon” moving from point A to point B. Then point out that if points A and B are moving quickly compared to some observer C, that photon reaches point B in the same amount of time as it travels between the stationary A/B pair. “How is this possible,” they ask. “The photon traveled different distances at the same time, at the same ‘speed,'” they exclaim. To explain this, they told people that “time bends” relative to its velocity (compared to any relative C).
However, nothing about Maxwell’s equations described “a particle traveling a distance, at a velocity.” The math explicitly states that the reaction is relative to their distance. That represents a process occurring between two points that takes t = cd ( time = some factor times the distance ) to complete. Light is a process; it’s not traveling a distance. The process begins relatively instantly and has a duration dependent on it’s distance.
Their mind-boggling puzzle begins with the imagined ball traveling between A and B. It’s just a lie. Maxwell’s equations don’t suggest it, and no observations suggest it. Trying to have a photon framework makes time and light-speed effects very confusing. Understanding t = cd means time never bends. Light changes its induction rate when traveling through different mediums, so “the medium” is one factor of c. Light is a process that takes duration based on the distance and the medium between the two objects. This level of simplicity reminds me of Occom’s razor. Meanwhile, “modern physics” is full of time paradoxes.
You will never find anything paradoxical or contrary evidence to the idea that EM effects occur instantly, but the effect is a process that takes a certain amount of time (based on the distance and the medium between them.) EM is virtually instant, and so is gravity, which is the actual universal speed limit.
Time doesn’t bend. “Time” is a type of analysis. The universe is in motion. We’re just trying to describe it. Enjoy the process!
