This paper puts forward a new unified fundamental physical theory named the Primordial Photon Theory. Its core proposition holds that photons are the sole primordial origin of everything in the universe, and light exists as a pure energy carrier with no other forms of energy independent of light. This paper systematically sorts out all intrinsic properties of photons. Starting from the fundamental premise that photons possess no rest mass or kinetic energy and can only undergo contact interaction at the energy level, this paper refutes two long-standing traditional physical perceptions: wave-particle duality and the claim that light is electromagnetic waves. It also reinterprets three classic optical phenomena—thermal radiation induced by light, equivalent light pressure, and the photoelectric effect—in a self-consistent manner, clarifying that all three are secondary effects generated after photons unilaterally transfer energy, and thoroughly discards erroneous derivations involving mechanical collision and momentum transfer of photons. This paper elaborates the generation mechanism of electric charge for protons and electrons: free photons carry transient virtual electromagnetic fields during propagation. After ultra-high-energy gamma photons undergo contact interaction and rapid cooling and are confined within tiny microspaces via strong force locking, the virtual electromagnetic fields solidify into stable real electric charges. Combined with LHC heavy-ion and photon collision experimental data from CERN and astronomical observations of black hole jets, this paper verifies that ultra-high-energy gamma photons can only stably generate protons, neutrons and electrons after contact interaction and rapid cooling; newly formed particles will dissociate back into free photons instantly under high-temperature environments. This paper provides a unified interpretation of the three fundamental cosmic forces, clarifying that the strong force, electromagnetic force and gravity all feature instantaneous remote action and attenuation following the inverse-square law without ever vanishing. A closed bidirectional cosmic cycle of photon-matter transformation dominated by gravity is constructed. This theory avoids logical contradictions arising from applying classical mechanics to massless photons and is compatible with existing collider observational results, offering a new self-consistent paradigm for high-energy physics and astrophysics.
Jiaqing Yan (Tue,) studied this question.