We all know that when a certain force is applied to an object, it will gain a speed, and as the force continues to increase, the speed of the object will continue to increase. So is there an upper limit to the speed? Before Einstein’s theory of relativity was proposed, people believed that the speed has no upper limit, and it can increase indefinitely.
But now we all know that the speed has an upper limit, that is the speed of light, any object with mass, its speed can only be infinitely close to the speed of light, this is the answer that Einstein’s special theory of relativity tells us, and this answer has been obtained. The argument of scientific experiment, it is correct.
Although the speed limit of matter is the speed of light, not all matter can truly reach the speed of light. In current human cognition, only the speed of light can reach the speed of light, and other matter can only approach the speed of light infinitely. So here is the question: Why can only photons reach the speed of light, and where does its power come from?
When Einstein proposed the principle of constant speed of light in the last century, not many people in the scientific community agreed with this conclusion, but more people opposed it. One of the representative figures is Planck, the founder of quantum mechanics. Planck did not endorse some of Einstein’s statements about light.
The reason why so many scientists can’t accept Einstein’s theory is mainly because this theory was too subverting people’s three views at the time. However, with the continuous development of science, scientists have demonstrated the theory of relativity through various experiments. Experiments have proved that Einstein’s theory of relativity is correct. From then on, Einstein became famous and became famous in the 20th century. The greatest and the scientist.
Einstein’s theory of relativity only tells us that the speed of light is the fastest speed at which information, matter, and energy can be transferred, and is the ultimate speed that matter can reach, and the speed of light remains constant. But as to why this is the result, the theory of relativity does not tell us the answer, and scientists also deeply understand that this hidden truth may be very important to humans.
So how do we uncover the mystery behind the fact that the speed of light can reach the speed of light, and that other substances cannot reach the speed of light? From a macro perspective, it may be difficult for us to uncover the secret of the speed of light. At this time, people think of the microscopic world and think of quantum mechanics.
We all know that the entire universe is actually composed of two worlds, one is the macro world that we can see, and the other is the micro world that we can’t see. Moreover, the macro and the micro are closely linked, and the micro constitutes the macro, and some of the macro performance also affects the operation of the micro world.
The essence of many things in the macro world can be answered in the micro world. For example, the nature of the temperature change of an object is actually a response to the violent thermal motion of molecules in the micro world.
Our research and exploration of the mysteries of the macroscopic world requires the support of some scientific theories, such as Newton’s classical mechanics, Einstein’s theory of relativity, etc. For the same reason, our research and exploration of the mysteries of the microcosm also requires the support of some scientific theories, and these scientific theories are collectively referred to as quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is very different from macroscopic physical theories. To some extent, some phenomena and theories of quantum mechanics completely subvert the macroscopic theory. Therefore, Einstein also held a cautious exploration attitude towards quantum mechanics. To a certain extent, Einstein did not recognize quantum mechanics, but he had to admit that many phenomena did exist, so Einstein said Quantum mechanics is “ghost”.
In the middle and late 20th century, after scientists built the particle collider, they initially opened the door of the micro world, which gave us a new understanding of the micro world, and at the same time collected a lot of mysterious data about the micro world. The results obtained after collating these data surprised scientists and directly subverted our three views.
The basic elements of the microscopic world are all kinds of particles. Quantum mechanics is to study and explore the mysteries of the movement of these particles, and a large number of particles make up our macroscopic world. Therefore, through quantum mechanics, we can continue to uncover the mysteries of particle motion and keep us Really understand the nature of material movement in the macro world.
The microscopic world consists of a large number of particles, and particles are also divided into multiple levels. They are large and small. Smaller particles make up larger particles, and larger particles make up the particles needed to form macroscopic matter. Therefore, they are one ring after another, just like in the universe, stars and planets make up star systems, hundreds of billions of star systems make up the Milky Way, and many galaxies make up larger superclusters. The level formation continues, and finally our vast universe is formed.
To study the mysteries of the microcosm, we naturally need a set of basic physical models. Through continuous exploration and research, scientists finally came up with a set of physical standard models. In this set of theories, everything is composed of elementary particles, and elementary particles are divided into two categories, one is fermions (fermions are divided into quarks and leptons), and the other is bosons.
So how do we understand fermions and bosons? In plain language, fermions are equivalent to the smallest “particles” in the particle world, and they can no longer be divided. This point is equivalent to the smallest matter visible to the naked eye in the macroscopic world. They cannot be smaller, and they will disappear in our vision no matter how small.
Therefore, in the macroscopic world, the smallest particles that make up matter are the smallest matter visible to our naked eyes. Every fermion has its own volume, so how are countless fermions connected together? It is necessary to know the interaction between particles to transmit information and force to each other, so as to form larger particles step by step, and finally form the macroscopic world.
At this time, the boson plays an important role. It is equivalent to a kind of glue, which can continuously bond the fermions, so that the fermions can be connected to each other. Different numbers of fermions are connected by bosons to form larger particles. For example, three quarks (a type of fermions) combine to form a proton through the strong interaction of gluons (a type of boson). And neutrons.
Protons and neutrons combine through a boson to form the nucleus, and the nucleus and electrons (another fermion) combine through a boson to form oxygen atoms or other atoms. In this way, layer by layer, various basic substances that we can see in the macroscopic world are finally formed.
So what does this have to do with the speed of light? In fact, their relationship has grown. We all know that particles also have mass, so where does this mass come from? In fact, they come from the energy release of fermions and bosons in the process of interacting and combining.
Scientists have found through calculations that 99% of the mass of the transmitted matter comes from the energy of the strong interaction, and the remaining 1% is used to impart the mass of the particles. Scientists assume that there is something called the Higgs boson in the universe, which can endow particles with mass. So how does it end up? It is by slowing down the particles.
Scientists believe that the initial propagation speed of all particles should be the speed of light, but most of the particles are slowed down by the Higgs boson in the process of propagation and gain mass. Among these particles, only the photon became a fish that slipped through the net and was not slowed down. It still maintained the original speed of the particle.
The Higgs boson was the original idea of scientists, but later through the Large Particle Collider, scientists successfully discovered the Higgs boson, which is an important milestone in the history of human scientific progress, and the Higgs boson The theory of “has become the mainstream theory of scientists at present, and more results will appear in the future.
Through these understandings, we understand that the reason why photons can keep the speed of light unchanged is mainly because the photon is not slowed down by the Higgs boson during the transmission process to gain mass, and its rest mass is still zero, so it can Reach the speed of light. Although other particles have gained mass, they have also lost the qualification to reach the speed of light. This may mean gains and losses.