Part IV: Light and Electromagnetism

The Observations

The speed of light is constant for all inertial observers regardless of their relative motion. Light from distant objects is redshifted. Electromagnetic energy propagates across space. These observations form the empirical foundation of special relativity and electrodynamics.

The Standard Interpretation

Light consists of photons—massless particles that also behave as waves—traveling through space at velocity c. Redshift results from wavelength stretching as space expands during the photon’s journey. The constancy of c for all observers is a postulate of special relativity, empirically validated but not derived from deeper principles.

The PSK Interpretation

PSK proposes a radical reinterpretation: light does not travel through space. There are no photons, no waves, no propagation. Instead, what we call "light" is temporal state mapping—causal connections between matter that was geometrically contiguous in a past density state.

Consider observing a distant star. In the standard model, photons left the star, traversed space for many years, and entered your eye. In PSK, the star and your eye are geometrically coincident right now, at a historical density state corresponding to the distance between you. In that sparser layer, your coordinate volumes intersect — you share state with the star at that intersection. What you experience as "receiving light" is this ongoing state-sharing through continuous geometric coincidence.

Nothing traveled. The "light" is your present access to the shared state from when you were contiguous.

The Speed of Light Reinterpreted

In this framework, c is not a velocity through space. It is the rate of spatial densification—the rate at which previously-contiguous matter becomes separated by emerging voids. The speed of light is the speed at which contiguity becomes separation.

This explains why c is constant for all inertial observers: every observer is traversing into denser space at the same rate. You can have relative motion with respect to other matter, but not with respect to the densification process itself. It is not a wind you can move into or against; it is the temporal evolution of the geometric substrate in which you are embedded.

When you "measure" c, you are not measuring something external passing by. You are measuring the rate at which your past contiguity with distant matter becomes present separation—which is your own rate of temporal progression.

Redshift Reinterpreted

Cosmological redshift is not wavelength stretching during transit. It is the density differential between the emission state and observation state. Light from distant objects maps from a sparser past density state; this differential manifests as wavelength shift.

The more distant the object, the sparser the density state of past contiguity, the greater the differential, the greater the redshift. The Hubble relationship falls out directly.

c is Not a Speed Limit

In standard relativity, c is a cosmic speed limit—nothing can travel through space faster than light. But if light is not traveling through space, this framing dissolves.

In PSK, c is a rate, not a speed limit. It appears as a limit because causal connections cannot outrun densification—you cannot receive information from matter you were never contiguous with. The "light speed barrier" is observational, not kinematic. You will never observe anything moving faster than c because observation itself is the temporal mapping process, which unfolds at rate c.

The question is not "can matter break the light speed barrier?" but rather "can matter that was never contiguous establish causal connection?" In PSK, the answer is no—not because of velocity limits, but because causal structure is grounded in geometric history.

Universal Causal Connectivity

Since all matter was contiguous in the infinite past when ρ → 0, every particle of matter in the observable universe was once geometrically unified with every other particle. This implies universal causal connectivity—everything can, in principle, have causal connections with everything else, because everything was once in geometric contact.

The cosmic microwave background, in this view, is not radiation that traveled from a distant surface. It is the temporal mapping of the state of matter at or near the transition threshold—when we were all still contiguous or just becoming separated. We are not seeing the early universe; we are remembering it through the causal structure established by former contiguity.

State-Mapping and the Geometry of Intersection

The Nature of Electromagnetic Connection

How does light travel from source to observer? How do radio waves connect transmitter to receiver? How does the sun warm your skin from 93 million miles away?

The conventional picture says: electromagnetic radiation propagates through space as waves or photons, traveling at c until absorbed.

PSK offers a different picture: state-mapping through geometric intersection.

A Puzzle Dissolved

Before developing this picture, consider a puzzle that has lingered in physics.

Richard Feynman once noted that we don’t really know why light beams arriving from different directions don’t interfere with one another as they cross paths on the way to their targets. Two flashlight beams intersect in mid-air. Each continues to its destination as if the other weren’t there.

If light is waves, why don’t they interfere at the crossing point and scramble each other? If light is particles, why don’t photons collide?

The conventional answers are unsatisfying. "Photons don’t interact with each other" — but why not? They carry energy and momentum. "Waves superpose linearly" — but this is a description, not an explanation. Quantum electrodynamics says photon-photon scattering is possible but extremely rare — but this just pushes the mystery into the formalism.

PSK dissolves the puzzle entirely.

There are no photons crossing in mid-air. There is no light "traveling" through that intersection point.

Flashlight A shares state with Target A through their geometric intersection at some historical density state. Flashlight B shares state with Target B through their geometric intersection at some historical density state.

These are separate state-sharing relationships between separate pairs of matter. They don’t "meet" in the middle because there is no middle. The state-sharing is between source and receiver, not through intervening space.

The beams don’t interfere because there are no beams — only matter sharing state with other matter through the geometry of their intersection in the density-state structure.

This also explains why countless radio signals, Wi-Fi, cellular, GPS, and light beams can all "occupy" the same space without mutual interference. They’re not occupying space. Each transmitter-receiver pair has its own state-sharing relationship through its own intersection geometry. The relationships coexist because they’re not competing for the same spatial location.

With this puzzle dissolved, we can develop the full picture.

Continuous Coincidence

All matter exists with constant proper volume. But coordinate volume — the "footprint" matter occupies in space — depends on spatial density. In sparser density states, the same proper volume corresponds to a larger coordinate footprint.

Consider yourself and the sun. At t(now), you are 93 million miles apart, with void between you. But in a density state 8 minutes sparser than now, your coordinate footprints were larger. In that sparser layer, your volumes intersect — you are geometrically coincident with the sun.

This intersection is not a historical event that happened and ended. It is an ongoing geometric fact. You are continuously coincident with the sun at that historical density state, right now, as you read this.

State-Sharing at Intersection

The warmth on your skin is not "energy that traveled from the sun." It is the direct consequence of sharing the sun’s energetic state at the density layer where you intersect.

The intersection is physically real. The state-sharing is physically real. The warmth is the physical consequence.

You experience the sun as it was "8 minutes ago" not because light took 8 minutes to travel, but because your intersection with the sun occurs at a historical density state 8 minutes of densification sparser than your current state. You share the sun’s state at that layer.

The Inverse Square Law

At the density state where you intersect with the sun, the sun’s coordinate volume is larger than at t(now). Its surface area at that layer is correspondingly larger. Your intersection with the sun is a fraction of that surface.

The farther away an object is, the sparser the density layer at which you intersect, the larger the object’s coordinate surface at that layer, the smaller the fraction of that surface you intersect, and the less of the object’s state you share.

At twice the distance, the historical density state of intersection is twice as sparse, the source’s coordinate surface is four times larger, and you intersect with one-quarter the fraction. The inverse square law emerges directly from the geometry of intersection at different historical density states.

Nothing "spreads" as it travels. The inverse square relationship is built into the structure of how matter intersects across density layers.

Radio Transmission

A receiving antenna resonates "in sympathy" with a transmitting antenna. Why?

Both antennas are matter. They are continuously coincident at a historical density state corresponding to their separation. The transmitter’s electrons oscillate; that oscillating state is shared at that historical density state; the receiver’s electrons share that state and oscillate in response.

The transmitter is coincident with all matter in its vicinity, extending to infinite distance with inverse-square falloff. Every piece of matter shares its state to some degree. The receiver is simply matter whose structure resonates at the transmitted frequency — it responds strongly to the shared state.

There is no wave propagating through space. There is continuous state-sharing through continuous geometric intersection.

Radio Through Walls

When radio passes through a wall, the wall participates in the state-sharing chain. The transmitter and wall are coincident at their historical density state. The wall and receiver are coincident at their historical density state. The wall couples the transmitter’s state to the receiver.

Whether this coupling preserves the signal depends on the wall’s structure. Non-conductive materials (drywall, wood) couple the state through with minimal modification. Conductive materials (metal) have electrons that strongly respond to the incoming state and re-radiate it differently, blocking or reflecting the signal.

The wall is not a passive obstacle that waves pass through. It is an active participant in the state-sharing chain.

Light Through Glass

Glass is matter. When you see a flashlight through a glass window, the flashlight and the glass are coincident at their historical density state. The glass and you are coincident at your historical density state. The glass couples the flashlight’s state to you.

You are sharing state with the glass. The glass’s state includes the influence of the flashlight. Transparency means the glass’s electron structure does not strongly absorb or modify the frequencies involved — it couples them through to you with minimal alteration.

Colored glass absorbs some frequencies (those states are thermalized in the glass) and couples others through. You share state with a glass whose state includes only the transmitted frequencies.

Seeing a Wall

When you look at a wall illuminated by a flashlight, the flashlight and wall are coincident at their historical density state. The wall and you are coincident at your historical density state. You share state with the wall, not with the flashlight.

The wall’s state includes the influence of the flashlight. The wall is the real source of your state-sharing. What we call "reflection" is the wall’s matter responding to state-sharing with the flashlight and then participating in state-sharing with you.

The color you see is determined by which frequencies the wall’s matter absorbs (thermalizes) versus re-shares. A red wall absorbs non-red frequencies and shares red frequencies.

The flashlight could be hidden behind a partition. You would still see the illuminated wall. You share state with the wall, which shares state with the flashlight. The wall is a genuine intermediary, not a passive reflector of traveling photons.

Mirrors

A mirror operates on the same principle. The mirror shares state with the flashlight at their historical density state. You share state with the mirror at your historical density state. The mirror is the real source of your state-sharing.

The "virtual image" is not an illusion. The mirror genuinely is the source of what you see.

What makes a mirror different from a diffuse wall is that its atomic structure preserves geometric information. The state it shares with you carries the geometric signature of the state it received from the flashlight — angle, intensity, spectrum. A diffuse wall’s structure re-shares state omnidirectionally; a mirror’s structure maintains the directional coherence.

The law of reflection (angle of incidence equals angle of reflection) emerges from the mirror’s electron structure preserving phase relationships in its state-sharing.

Polarization

The oscillating state of source matter has orientation — the direction in which electrons oscillate. When this state is shared at that historical density state, the receiving matter resonates in sympathy. How strongly it resonates depends on alignment.

A resonant antenna illustrates this clearly. A dipole antenna is a rod whose electrons can move freely along its length but not perpendicular to it. If the transmitting antenna is aligned parallel, the receiver resonates strongly — the shared oscillation direction matches the direction the receiver’s electrons can move. If the antennas are perpendicular, the receiver barely responds — the shared oscillation is in a direction the receiver’s structure cannot accommodate.

A polarizing filter operates on the same principle. The filter has a structure — long-chain molecules, a wire grid, or crystal alignment — that permits electron oscillation in one direction but not the perpendicular. State-sharing from a source oscillating in the permitted direction couples through: the filter’s electrons resonate in sympathy and share that state onward. State-sharing from a source oscillating in the blocked direction does not couple through: the filter’s structure cannot resonate in that direction, so the state is absorbed and thermalized rather than passed on.

If the oscillation wavelength is much shorter than the structural features of the filter, the filter cannot selectively block orientations. A wire grid designed for microwaves is too coarse to affect visible light — all polarizations couple through, and the filter appears transparent at those shorter wavelengths.

Unpolarized light means the source matter is oscillating in all directions, or rapidly changing directions. A polarizing filter passes only the component aligned with its permitted direction, blocking the rest. The emerging state-sharing is now oriented — polarized.

Polarization is not a property of "waves" or "photons." It is the orientation of oscillation in the source matter, which determines how strongly receiving matter can resonate in sympathy based on its structure and alignment.

The Laser

A laser cavity consists of two mirrors facing each other, with a gain medium between them. In the conventional picture, light bounces between the mirrors, being amplified on each pass until coherent stimulated emission dominates.

PSK offers a different picture.

The two mirrors are matter. They are continuously coincident with each other at a historical density state corresponding to their separation. As space densifies, this state of intersection becomes progressively denser — the mirrors are, in a sense, approaching each other through the density-state structure.

The gain medium between them is also matter, sharing state with both mirrors. The "stimulated emission" is the coherent state-sharing between atoms in the gain medium, synchronized by their mutual intersection with both mirrors.

The coherence of laser light emerges because the cavity mirrors are continuously coincident, sharing state coherently. This shared state synchronizes the gain medium. The densification process drives the coherent buildup — the historical density state of intersection between the mirrors evolves at rate c, and the cavity geometry selects for states that constructively reinforce across this evolution.

The "bouncing" of light between mirrors is not photons traveling back and forth. It is continuous state-sharing between matter whose geometric intersection through the density-state structure produces resonance.

Further Applications

The geometric intersection model extends far beyond the examples developed here. Nearly every electromagnetic phenomenon can be reimagined in terms of state-sharing through density-state geometry.

Consider the variety of engineered electromagnetic systems: the cavity of a microwave oven, waveguides and traveling wave tubes, the beam-steering magnets in a radiotherapy linear accelerator, the operation of capacitors and inductors. Each involves matter in specific geometric configurations that determine how state is shared.

Consider the taxonomy of electromagnetic modes that physics has catalogued: TEM modes, plane waves, Gaussian beams, Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian modes, waveguide TE and TM modes. Each describes a pattern of electromagnetic behavior — and each could, in principle, have a geometric spatial densification interpretation. The mode structure would reflect the geometry of state-sharing through density-state intersection, constrained by boundary conditions (the matter defining cavities, guides, and apertures).

PSK does not claim to have derived these modes from first principles. But it proposes that the underlying reality they describe is geometric: matter sharing state through intersection in the density-state structure, with the specific patterns emerging from the geometric configuration of the matter involved.

The design rules engineers use — impedance matching, resonant frequencies, mode selection, beam shaping — are empirically successful descriptions of which geometries produce desired behaviors. PSK suggests these rules have a deeper origin in the geometry of densifying space.

This is an area where much work remains. The claim here is not that PSK has explained all electromagnetic phenomena, but that it provides a coherent alternative framework for understanding them — one grounded in a single geometric process rather than in fields, waves, and particles as fundamental entities.

Physics at Surfaces and Interfaces

The geometry of state-sharing becomes particularly significant at surfaces and interfaces — boundaries where the properties of matter change.

But first, a reminder of the PSK way of thinking. In a semiconductor, carriers do not flow or drift through a crystalline lattice any more than photons move through space. The "transport" mechanism is state-sharing through spatial densification. In an electrical conductor, electrons do not flow through the wire. The conductor provides a matter conduit between other matter, coupling their states — and again, the "transport" in PSK is spatial densification, not movement through space. Current, like light, is state-sharing through geometric intersection.

With this in mind, consider what happens at an interface: state-sharing from one material must couple into another with different structure. The surface is where this coupling occurs. In the examples already discussed, light couples through glass at its surfaces; reflection occurs at the surface of a wall; the mirror’s surface is where geometric information is preserved or scattered.

This extends throughout solid-state physics. The transport of charge carriers across differently doped layers in a diode or transistor involves state-sharing across interfaces where the density of available states changes abruptly. The behavior of a p-n junction — rectification, carrier injection, depletion — reflects how state-sharing relationships evolve across that boundary geometry.

In a MOSFET, the electrostatic gate modulates the channel region beneath it. The formation or pinch-off of the conductive channel is conventionally described in terms of electric fields and band bending. In PSK terms, the gate’s charge state is shared with the channel region through their geometric intersection; the channel’s conductivity reflects how that shared state affects carrier availability. The oxide layer between gate and channel is intermediate matter that couples the state-sharing relationship — its thickness and dielectric properties determine the coupling strength.

The entire field of "physics at surfaces" — studying adsorption, catalysis, thin films, heterostructures, quantum wells — involves phenomena where interface geometry governs behavior. PSK suggests that these are all cases where the geometry of state-sharing through density-state intersection is shaped by boundary conditions.

Again, PSK does not claim to have derived the physics of semiconductor devices or surface phenomena from first principles. But it proposes that the geometric framework of state-sharing through intersection offers an alternative lens for understanding why interface geometry matters so profoundly in these systems.

Summary: The Geometry of Light

Electromagnetic phenomena — light, radio, heat radiation — are not waves or particles traveling through space. They are state-sharing between matter through geometric intersection in the density-state structure.

All matter is continuously coincident with all other matter at some historical density state. The distance between objects determines the layer at which they intersect. State is shared at these intersections. The inverse square law emerges from the geometry of intersection at sparser density states.

Intermediate matter (walls, glass, mirrors) participates in state-sharing chains, coupling, absorbing, or preserving state according to its structure. What we call "reflection" is matter being a genuine source of state-sharing, influenced by what it shares state with. What we call "transparency" is matter coupling state through without significant modification.

The speed of light, c, is not the speed at which something travels. It is the rate at which the density-state structure evolves — the rate at which historical density states progress toward the present. This is why c is constant for all observers: everyone is embedded in the same densifying structure, and it evolves at the same rate everywhere.