All physical matter originates from high-energy gamma photons. Microscopic particles such as electrons, protons and neutrons are closed structures formed by a large number of bound high-energy gamma photons, which are figuratively named photon cages in this paper. The photon cage is only a descriptive conceptual model. The internal mechanism through which high-energy gamma photons intertwine and lock to form stable cage structures has not yet been clarified, and the quantity of gamma photons confined inside a single particle cannot be quantitatively defined at present. Low-energy photons lack sufficient energy to form stable bound structures; only high-energy gamma photons can aggregate to constitute physical particles. The high-energy gamma photons confined inside photon cages always move at a constant speed of light and never stay stationary. The binding effect merely limits the moving range of photons and confines them to circulate within the tiny internal space of particles, without altering the inherent speed of light possessed by photons themselves. Even when photons are bound and aggregated to form physical matter, they still travel at the speed of light inside the photon cages within the matter, while the particles carrying these photons possess mass and cannot move at the speed of light as a whole. Taking nuclear explosion as an example, a nuclear blast completely shatters the photon cage structures of particles, and the gamma photons originally trapped circulating inside the cages break free and propagate outward at the speed of light. Photons exist in two states: first, bound within photon cages to form physical matter, where photons circulate at the speed of light inside the cages; second, fully unbound and free to travel, maintaining the speed of light permanently. There is no such thing as stationary or low-speed photons. There exist three fundamental interactions in the universe: universal gravitation, the strong nuclear force and electromagnetic Coulomb force. Among the three interactions, only the electromagnetic Coulomb force generates repulsive effects; universal gravitation and the strong nuclear force act exclusively as attractive forces. The strong nuclear force decays exponentially with distance and only takes effect at the scale of atomic nuclei. The strong nuclear attractive force between protons and neutrons reaches approximately 20,000 Newtons, yet it cannot further compress and fuse nucleons. The core barrier resisting compression originates from the structural resistance of the particles’ own photon cages, which possess extremely high structural strength. Under normal conditions, electrons rely on the equivalent centrifugal force generated by orbital motion to stabilize atomic spatial structures. Extreme macroscopic gravitational force inside stars compresses the spacing between atomic nuclei, erases orbital space and breaks the centrifugal balance. The photon cages of electrons are smaller and structurally thinner. Driven jointly by Coulomb force and short-range strong nuclear force, electron photon cages can embed into atomic nuclei and recombine with proton photon cages to form neutrons, fully explaining the evolutionary process of neutron star formation via gravitational collapse. Equipped with distinct fixed spatial boundaries, photon cages can uniformly interpret objective physical phenomena including the inherent volume of microscopic particles, the stability of atomic nuclei and the formation of compact celestial bodies.
Jiaqing Yan (Thu,) studied this question.