A-priori Assumptions in Physics
| Current Assumptions | Corrections |
| The fundamental matter components of the reality are the elementary particles, dark matter, vacuum energy and dark energy. The interpretation of the two energy components as matter components founds on Einstein’s energy-mass equivalence E = mc2. Space and time are also components of the reality, since they affect the states of the matter components. | The reality is completely defined by its discrete and continuous matter content. The laws of nature rule the interactions of the matter components by the exchange of impulses. Space and time are human imaginations, needed to determine the positions of the matter components and the duration of their changes of states in the reality. |
| Physical laws are laws of nature. They determine the changes of states in all parts of the universe and at all times in the same way. The interpretation of the physical laws as laws of nature founds on the a priori assumption that there exist fundamental constants of interaction that are independent of the local conditions. | Only the laws of nature, such as “causality” and “conservation of matter”, rule the changes of states in the reality in the same way. They enable the rational interpretation of the reality. The physical laws, used to determine the changes of states in the reality, need correct a priori assumptions and correct use of mathematics. They need also considering the real local conditions for the interactions. |
| The positions and motions of the matter components on Earth and in the universe are determinable in “inertial” coordinate systems, moving without accelerations. To determine the positions and motions practically, the coordinate systems should be connected with observable discrete objects of matter, moving naturally accelerated. |
In the reality, there are only points at which the forces, acting on bodies, compensate each other. Space stations orbiting the Earth are an example. At their center of mass, the gravitational and centrifugal force are balanced. Choosing this point as origin of a coordinate system, outside the origin all other bodies move accelerated, because the two forces are not balanced. |
| In the vacuum as “empty” space, the speed of light c is a constant of nature. By coordinate transformations this is valid for all coordinate systems applied to determine the changes of states of matter components. | At decreasing density of the spacefilling continuous matter, the speed of light c increases. It refers thereby to the instantaneous position of the light waves in the continuous matter. |
| The speed of light in the early universe and near black holes is the same as that measured on Earth. However, the radiation remains unobservable, due to the enormous curvature of the “space-time”. The resulting huge gravitational forces prevent radiation escaping from the interior of the so-called “event horizons”. |
In very dense continuous matter, radiation and gravitational waves can neither be generated nor transmitted. The speed c of the impulses generating and transmitting the waves is too low. This is true inside the event horizons of the early universe and in the gravitational fields surrounding black holes. |
| Besides the speed of light c, other fundamental constants of interactions exist, so Newton’s gravitational constant G, Planck’s radiation constant h and the fine structure constant a for atoms. The fundamental constants allow applying everywhere in the universe the same physical laws. | Only the specific properties of the elementary particles are fundamental constants. The constants of interaction, used in the physical laws, depend like the speed of light on the local conditions. The gravitational constant, for instance, on the changing matter density in the gravitational fields. |
| Due to the definition of forces F by the acceleration a, a body of mass m can be accelerated to arbitrary high velocities v. The kinetic energy (Ekin = mʋ2/2), transferred by accelerations to the body, results from the work of the forces F = ma on it. The achievable kinetic energy depends therefore only on the accelerating forces. The energy unit “electronvolt”, applied in particle physics, founds on this definition of the force. |
The acceleration of all bodies ends at the speed of light c as the speed of the accelerating impulses. The kinetic energy of the bodies, achievable by accelerations, is therefore confined to Ekin = mc2/2. If by accelerations no exchange of matter happens, the mass m represents the unchanged matter content of the bodies. |
| If gravitational forces act on bodies, they are located in a gravitational field surrounding another body. The gravitational force, generated in the gravitational field of the Earth, determines thus the gravitational potential Φ and the potential energy Epot = mΦ of the bodies with respect to the Earth. In case of a body falling freely towards the Earth, its potential decreases and its potential energy transforms into kinetic energy. | Gravitational forces result from the interactions of the continuous matter in neighboring gravitational fields. The continuous matter contracts to reduce the differences in its matter density. The contraction deforms the gravitational fields, visible on Earth as tides. The bodies should follow the contraction, if opposite forces like centrifugal forces do not prevent this. |
| In the terrestrial gravitational field, free-falling bodies move accelerated until they hit on the surface of the Earth. With his physical law, s = kt2, Galileo Galilei determined the path s of the falling bodies in dependence on time t. In the law, the mass of the falling bodies does not matter. The constant k Galileo Galilei determined from his experiments. The physical law s = kt2 means that all bodies are accelerated to the same velocities, regardless of their mass. Later, the constant k was identified as the changeable gravitational acceleration. | The bodies at the centers of two interacting gravitational fields are accelerated towards the Lagrangian point L1 on the boundary between the fields. In case of different masses, the point L1 is closer to the lighter body. In case of significantly lighter bodies, the velocities against the heavier body are nearly identical. If the masses of the bodies are comparable, their acceleration towards point L1 should be considered. If, for instance, two galaxies started by gravitational forces their motion towards each other at huge distances, they may collide at the point L1 at superluminal velocities. |
| The potential Φ = ˗ Gm/r of the bodies describes the gravitational fields, in which they are located. The distance r counts thereby from the center of mass of the bodies at the centers of the fields. The potential Φ is negative, because at infinite distance from the center of the fields it was a priori defined as zero. Since in gravitational fields the speed of light c is constant, the increasing wavelengths of the sunlight in the solar gravitational field should be explained by “time dilation”. The subsequent shortening of the wavelength in the terrestrial gravitational field is thereby not considered. | Gravitational fields consist of continuous matter of changeable mass density. The distribution of the mass density in interacting gravitational fields is measurable indirectly. On the surface of the bodies at the center of the fields, the mass density has its maximal value. Along the field lines the mass density decreases steadily. The maximal value depends on the internal structure of the body at the center of the considered gravitational field, the minimal value on the boundary conditions outside the field. In the solar gravitational field, for instance, the decreasing mass density increases the speed of the sunlight, explaining the stretching of its wavelengths, observable on Earth. |
| With his general theory of relativity, Einstein predicted the “gravitational waves” observable today. According to the theory, the waves are explained by “contractions” and “extensions” of the space-time. As a mathematically defined four-dimensional complex vector, the space-time has three imaginary spatial components and one real time component. The time component is defined as product of the changing time t with the constant speed of light c. By the description of the universe, the independence of the four vector components restored the possibility of separate considerations of space and time. In the original version of the theory of special relativity, space and time depend mathematically on each other. |
Gravitational waves are like any other radiation generated in the space-filling continuous matter. If, for example, in the cosmic space two black holes orbit each other at high speed, they generate with their comoving gravitational fields in the gravitational fields outside “bow waves” like air-planes in the atmosphere of the Earth. The bow waves move through the other gravitational fields at the speed of light c that depends on the mass density in the fields. Even the Earth, orbiting the Sun, produces with its gravitational field in the solar gravitational field a bow wave. By sufficiently sensitive measurements, the wave would be detectable on the other planets of the solar system. |
| On Earth, the mass m of bodies is usually determined by weighing. By the energy-mass equivalence E = mc2, the mass m is interpreted as “energy at rest”. In the early expanding universe, the quantum physical “Higgs mechanism” realized the conversion of the primordial energy into the particle mass. The dark energy in the present cosmic space contributes the greatest part to the total mass of the universe, causing its accelerated expansion, despite of the omnipresence of gravitation. | To describe the relative states of resting or moving bodies, classical physics defined the term “energy” as the result of the work of forces on the bodies. The definition implies that the bodies with their matter content exist already. This excludes interpreting the matter content of the bodies as energy at rest. In case of radiation, the radiation energy is generated by interactions between the particle fields and then by the continuous matter transported away. |
| The a priori assumption of the “wave-particle duality” allows describing elementary particles and their bound systems by imaginary wave functions. It depends on the situation, whether the particles should be considered as discrete objects of matter or as spatially extended waves. An example is the explanation of the double-slit experiments with electrons. | Electrons and the other elementary particles are the discrete building blocks of all structures of higher complexity. If free electrons move through the continuous matter, they oscillate. The oscillations generate in the continuous matter accompanying resonance waves, explaining the double-slit experiments without wave-particle duality. |
| The dark matter consists of a new kind of particles, producing gravitation but without measurable radiation. These particles increase the gravitational forces in the cosmic space, explaining thus, according to Newton’s law of gravitation, the rotational velocities of the stars in galaxies and the relative motions of the galaxies towards each other. Despite of intensive research, the new kind of particles could not be detected; neither by astronomical observations nor by experiments on Earth. Moreover, the assumption of discrete dark matter contradicts the observation of colliding galaxies. | In the universe, only the continuous matter with the embedded discrete elementary particles exist. Both are the basic components of the same primordial substance. The invisible continuous matter explains the oscillations of the particles moving in it. It explains also the gravitation and the optical effects on the Earth and in the universe. The continuous matter expands by local impulses, to eliminate its density differences. This caused the expansion of the universe from the very beginning. During the expansion, by phase-transition the elementary particles appeared. The further decrease of the matter density produced in the universe the gravitational fields and the other fields surrounding the elementary particles and the macroscopic bodies. In interacting gravitational fields, the continuous matter reduces its density differences by contraction. |
| The universe is a closed, isotropic physical system. Its expansion was concluded from the stretching of the wavelengths of light, received from galaxies. The stretching increases with the distance of the galaxies from the Earth. As a “closed” physical system, the universe has neither initial nor boundary conditions. This excludes any rational explanation of its appearance and of the origin of its matter content. The a priori assumed isotropy enabled a solution of the field equations of the theory of general relativity. As an “isotropic” physical system, the universe has no center of expansion in the cosmic space. | The universe is a part of a greater reality with initial and boundary conditions. The initial conditions provided the reasons for its appearance. By its expansion, the universe acquired its matter content from the reality outside. After the appearance of the elementary particles with their interacting fields, the conflict between expansion and contraction of the continuous matter caused the structure evolution towards more complex structures in the universe. This structure evolution revealed the astonishing properties of the primordial substance of which the universe is built up, including the development of life up to the ability of human beings of feeling, thinking, understanding and acting consciously. |
| In the particle world, the “time reversal” of changes of state is possible as in a reversed movie. | All changes of states in the universe are directed towards an equilibrium state of the continuous matter without density differences in it. The presence of the elementary particles with their fields excludes achieving such state of equilibrium by expansion. The interactions between the field forces and the inertial forces change continuously the states in the universe, associated with a permanent creation and decay of the discrete structures. If the field forces and the inertial forces are balanced, the elementary particles form with their fields more complex structures as temporarily states of equilibrium. Examples are the atoms and the solar system. |
| To determine the positions and motions of the different objects in the cosmic space, astronomy applies the Euclidean geometry. The Euclidean geometry defines the space-time as “flat”, i.e. without curvature. From the flat space-time cosmology concluded that the expansion of the universe ends only at infinite time. However, the assumption of a flat space-time contradicts the theory of general relativity that refers the gravitation in the universe to curved space-times. | If the expanding impulses in the continuous matter become too weak, the contraction of the universe by gravitation begins. It ends with the liquidation of the discrete structures at a center of collision. A region of supercritical density of the continuous matter appears, free of discrete objects of matter and their accompanying fields. If the density at the center of collision increases to the maximal possible value, the expansion of a new universe begins. The expansion produces by phase transitions new elementary particles. By the continuing expansion, a new structure evolution will happen. At appropriate local conditions, new life appears. |
Note
The discussed a priori assumptions and the proposed corrections are the result of a comprehensive analysis of the theories and models of current physics. The corrections enable an interpretation of reality, consistent with all data from experiments and observations, available today, but also with human direct experiences.
The proposed corrections of current physics have far-reaching consequences, meaningful presentable only in a book. However, the appropriate publishers require publishing at first the new findings as articles. The appropriate journals, in turn, reject articles questioning the theories and models of current physics.
The following article is an example.
