A Reexamination of Time and Special Relativity Assuming a Constant Speed for Quantum Subcomponents

Abstract

Special relativity is reexamined assuming a new postulate — that the most fundamental, dimensionless subcomponents of matter travel with the same speed relative to all fixed points of reference — the speed of light. This postulate corresponds to an alternative definition of time, equating time with the spatial displacement of these subcomponents. Time is motion. This motion is found to correlate with the intrinsic spin and quantized angular momentum associated with elementary particles. The invariant properties of this motion are used to define our equations for time and space relativity in the same manner that the constancy of the speed of light was used by Einstein to generate the equations of special relativity. The predictions are nearly identical to special relativity. Interestingly, the transformation equations create the appearance of additional compactified spatial dimensions. Through modeling the action of interconnecting strings linking these subcomponents, the concepts of simultaneity and action at a distance are developed in relation to the proper time of a quantum particle. The force accelerating these subcomponents is used to derive the energy of formation, consistent with the mass-energy relations of special relativity and quantum theory. The uncertainty principle can be related to the time and space uncertainties in measuring the location of these subcomponents. Thus this alternative conceptual approach can provide a useful starting point for an alternative integration of time, relativity, and quantum theories.