Errors in the Principle of the Constancy of the Speed of Light, a New Interpretation of the Principle of Universal Gravitation, a New Universal Gravitation Equation and Its Experimental Verification

Abstract: In the course of exploring universal gravitation, we have accomplished extremely precise quantitative calculations. However, regarding the underlying physical mechanism of universal gravitation, there have long been numerous controversies and dilemmas in the academic community. Particularly prominent is the fundamental contradiction between the continuous spacetime picture described by general relativity and the discrete quantum picture required by quantum gravity. Both general relativity and quantum mechanics take the principle of the constancy of the speed of light as an important foundation. In the author’s research on the principle of universal gravitation, a major oversight in the principle of the constancy of the speed of light has been identified: in all methods of measuring the speed of light, the process of collapse and reconstruction of the photon wavefunction has been neglected. Once this process is no longer ignored, it can be shown that the principle of the constancy of the speed of light is invalid. Accordingly, it is necessary to re-examine general relativity and quantum mechanics. Meanwhile, the core problem inherent in the equivalence principle has not been recognized, which further leads to certain deviations in the fundamental physical logic of the so-called spacetime curvature effect, making it unable to truly reveal the essence of universal gravitation. The principle of universal gravitation expounded in this paper is distinct from all traditional theoretical understandings in physics. The key difference is that instead of neglecting the crucial factor of collapse and reconstruction of the photon wavefunction, this paper takes it as the core mechanism. Without introducing additional gravitons or resorting to the geometric hypothesis of spacetime curvature, it returns to the essence of the interaction between electromagnetic waves and the spatial system, thus presenting a new interpretation of the principle of universal gravitation. NOTE: This is the English translation; the Chinese version follows. (And Original Chinese DOI: zenodo.18935362)