Question Isn't the speed of light arbitrary?

[Questioner]

Isn't the speed of light arbitrary?

If one set up the universe system with a different delimiter and photons traveled at that speed instead as long as it wasn't negative, imaginary, infinite or zero wouldn’t everything function generally the same?

It isn't like light speed has special numeric significance like pi, phi or e.

Is it that light is the speed with which things interact in the Universe?
And that is what isn't arbitrary?
If so changing that interaction speed by a fraction or doubling it wouldn't collapse the system.

My guess is one would replace the value of 'C' in all the formulas and everything would be about the same.

Have i missed some essential point?

 

[billslugg]

The speed of light is proportional to the strength of the charge force. This force is about 10^32 times stronger than the gravity forces we deal with daily. The speed of light also controls the speed of time. Things would go at a different speed but I don't think we would notice.

 

[Gibsense]

"The speed of light is proportional to the strength of the charge force."
I assumed he was talking about "Speed of light in a vacuum" rather than a situation of absorption /emission. Or do I misunderstand? Lol probably.
If light follows a null geodesic (no time involved) then the idea it can have a speed is invalid surely(?). The speed of time decides the apparent speed of light. (?)

 

[billslugg]

The speed of light is the same as the outward speed of a "kink" in an electric field line as the charged particle is moved sideways. Move an electron sideways and its field bends slightly, the disturbance propagating outward at c.

Any speed of light less than c, due to a transparent material, is not due to light slowing down, it is due to the fact that each photon is absorbed, sits as a phonon for a brief time and is then re-emitted in the forward direction .

The stronger the charge force, the "stiffer" the electric field lines are. The stiffer they are, the faster a kink can propagate. Time is measured by events, all due to some interaction between subatomic particles. That interaction is controlled by the speed at which the charge force can move from one particle to another. This speed underlies all of our experience.

Thus, the strength of the charge force controls the rate at which time progresses.

 

[Atlan0001]

Temporal time (Miriam-Webster):
1.) a : of or relating to time as opposed to eternity.
b : of or relating to earthly life.
2.) a : of or relating to grammatical tense or a distinction of time.
3.) a : of or relating to time as distinguished from space.
b : of or relating to the sequence of time or to a particular time.
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Temporal time is arbitrary. There are more facets and dimensions to time than just the one 1-dimensional rubber-elastic string . . . the fantastic fantasy!

 

[billslugg]

Roger Penrose said in 10^100 years the last particle will change to energy and the last energy will retreat to absolute zero. Once there are no particles then there can be no time. This allows entropy to decrease which starts a new Big Bang.

 

[Atlan0001]

Roger Penrose said in 10^100 years the last particle will change to energy and the last energy will retreat to absolute zero. Once there are no particles then there can be no time. This allows entropy to decrease which starts a new Big Bang.

Penrose is then wrong and I'm surprised. The total matter and energy of the universe already equals (has always equaled) (will always equal) zero as he well knows . . . or so I thought he knows. And heat rises and cold settles, even in a universe. Guess where and how the (Chaos Theory "smooth") extreme positive of heat-energy eternally rises to and the (Chaos Theory "grainy") extreme negative of cold-energy eternally settles to through a cross-flow (Hawking 'Life Zone' trojan horizon) equilibrium? Total mass matter and energy (+|-) equals zero, P/BB existing right now and always in (past=future (+|-) / (-|+) future=past)) Horizon (t=*1*).

It is hard to think of something that is . . . two somethings that are . . . a set superposition timeless / out of time ((t=*1*) (t=0)), forcing time ((t=*1*) (t=+1) |c=(t=0)| (t=-1) (t=*1*)). A couple of things ("all time all at once" and "spontaneous") that know no time . . . yet force time.

An infinite density is at once zero density . . . leaving finite "potentials" (an infinity of infinitesimals). Everything is nothing, leaving something.
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"Communication across the revolutionary divide is inevitably partial." -- Thomas S. Kuhn.

 

[Gibsense]

Time is measured in meters and seconds especially when discussing light in the context of the universe. Space and Time measurements are interchangeable as part of a single entity: Spacetime.
A measurement that can be applied to all macro situations in Spacetime is the Spacetime Interval (between events)

Time for objects is to their relative speeds re SR. Local time measured by the decay of an isotope etc. The behaviour of light interactions at a Quantum Mechanical level is no doubt complex and different. Maybe Quantum Mechanics and Relativity will be married someday soon (?).

Then again there is "Proper Time". Even a possibility of an additional time process.
Time directly produced by the Expansion of the Universe { Gibsense Time, lol}

To address the question: " Isn't the speed of light arbitrary" we need to know the context of the question I guess

 

[Classical Motion]

C comes from e. And there is a spectrum of c. Propagated linear c is ~ 300 million m/s. How ever there is a spectrum of rotational c.

Using a rotation within a rotation, c can be set to a relative c, while keeping the linear c. It.s hard to imagine.

One needs to understand a compound radius and a compound circumference for these dynamics.

Or a wet noodle.

 

[Wenjun Fo]

Isn't the speed of light arbitrary?

If one set up the universe system with a different delimiter and photons traveled at that speed instead as long as it wasn't negative, imaginary, infinite or zero wouldn’t everything function generally the same?

It isn't like light speed has special numeric significance like pi, phi or e.

Is it that light is the speed with which things interact in the Universe?
And that is what isn't arbitrary?
If so changing that interaction speed by a fraction or doubling it wouldn't collapse the system.

My guess is one would replace the value of 'C' in all the formulas and everything would be about the same.

Have i missed some essential point?

Light is a firework reaction in the photosensitive nervous system of the eyes and brain, and the speed of light is essentially the speed of the photosensitive nerve cells’ reflection stimulated by the visible spectrum, So from the point of view of the human eye, the speed of light is constant.





Let's take a biological look at human vision.





People without eyeballs can't see light,


Normal people can see light, color, and images,


People with color blindness have trouble of colors distinguishing,


There is no object in front of but there is an image in the brain when visual hallucination occurs,


There will be a light spot change while press the closed eyes,


The rod photoreceptor cells sense light and dark,


The cone cells sense color distinguishing.








In conclusion,


Light is an intrinsic and unique acquired phenomenon that depends on the structure and function of the eye and brain





Figure 1. Diagram of light generation process based on star radiation





The analysis to the theory of constant speed of light based on biology


The photosensitive nerve cells in eyes and brain are densely distributed and omnidirectional, the brain calculates the distance from the initial trigger of a nerve point to the termination of another nerve point, the brain does not matter whether you are running or sitting to receive the trigger of the visible spectrum, the form presented in the brain is the same. And is the speed in white light the same as the speed in seven colors after color separation? No matter what color light, their triggering in the eye and brain is determined by the fastest response speed of nerve cells, so the essence of the speed of light is actually the fastest response speed of the visual nervous system to the visible spectrum, the accuracy of the measuring device determines the accuracy of the measured data. Perhaps this is the correct interpretation of Einstein's principle of the constant speed of light.








The study of superluminal light should look for new measurement methods


Based on the cognition that the accuracy of the measuring device determining the accuracy of the measured data, the study of superluminal light should focus on the improvement of the measurement method, and any link involving the human eye should be abandoned, and all links should be completed by high-precision devices. If design two kinds of devices that theoretically react faster than the speed of light and measure with different accuracy, it can compare the two measurements to verify the existence of superluminal light. I wonder if the visual nervous system of the eagle responds faster than that of humans, and whether the speed of light of the eagle will exceed the speed of light of humans?


Figure 2. The traditional methods of measuring to the speed of light





I think Life sciences will lead the way in uncovering the mysteries of the universe. See my series of studies.


DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32075.81442