A SPECULATION

  1. Classical electrodynamics and photons in flat and curved space-time deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, March 2008):

Classical electrodynamics - including Coulomb's law, interference, relativistic invariance and the full Maxwell's equations - is deduced from a simple model based on featureless extended entities. Quantum effects are described as results of the extension of the fundamental entities. The model describes the photon, including its spin and its quantum behaviour. The model also works in curved space-time; it reproduces the known results for high curvature, such as black-hole radiation and the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect. Maximum values for electric and magnetic fields in nature are predicted, and the power limit for light and energy sources is confirmed. A new type of underlying symmetry is predicted.

  2. General relativity, gravitons and cosmology deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, April 2008):

Einstein's field equations are deduced from a model of space-time based on featureless extended entities. Curvature is built from defects in space-time. In addition, extended entities yield a model for matter, for horizons and for the graviton, including its spin value. The model reproduces all known quantum-gravity effects, all black-hole properties - including a logarithmic correction to the black-hole entropy and a clarification of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter - and holography. The model predicts a minimum length, a maximum curvature, the absence of singularities, the generalized uncertainty principle, and the absence of effects of doubly special relativity.

The extended-entity model also yields a new approach to cosmology, predicts the existence of a cosmic horizon, and proposes an alternative to inflation and modified Newtonian dynamics. The predicted values of the present particle density and of the present cosmological constant agree with experiments. The cosmological constant is predicted to decrease with time. The model provides a natural explanation of dark energy. The acceleration value at which rotation curves in galaxies deviate from the inverse-square law is predicted to vary with distance. A minimum momentum, a minimum force, a minimum electric and magnetic field and a minimum power are predicted to exist in nature. The fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation are expected to be scale-invariant.

  3. Quantum theory and quantum electrodynamics deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, April 2008):

It is argued that Schrödinger's and Dirac's equations can be deduced from a topological model of matter and photons based on featureless extended entities. The wave function, spin and quantum phase have intuitive descriptions. The probabilities appearing in quantum measurements are compatible with the Kochen-Specker theorem and do not rely on non-contextual hidden variables. The model reproduces Heisenberg's indeterminacy relations and the Hilbert space structure, provides a topological explanation for entanglement, provides general models for matter, antimatter, and real and virtual particles, and explains electric charge quantization and minimal coupling. The Weinberg-Witten theorem is satisfied. The model provides a basis for stochastic quantization, for the entwined-paths model, and for Zitterbewegung. At high energies, the model predicts the lack of higher dimensions, a minimum intrinsic electric dipole moment, the absence of divergences, and maximal values for electric and magnetic fields. The fine-structure constant, including its energy dependence, is calculable; first crudely calculated bounds contain the experimental value.