Is it possible that some super theory will emerge in the future that will cause existing physical theories to collapse?

This article is based on answering similar questions from netizens, see the screenshot below:

To explain this problem clearly is very simple. First of all, we need to understand the foundation of current physical theory. Just like a tall building, if you can destroy the foundation, will the building collapse soon?

What is the basis of modern physics theory? There are two main cornerstones, one is Einstein's theory of relativity, and the other is quantum mechanics. As long as it is found that some of the most important parameters of these two cornerstones are wrong, both theories will collapse, and mankind will fall into confusion and lose direction. All theoretical foundations need to be rebuilt.

The speed of light constant is the most important parameter of these two theories.

The theory of relativity established by Einstein is divided into the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity. The special theory of relativity is based on the speed limit of light and the principle of the constancy of the speed of light. Although the speed limit of light was only Einstein's conjecture at the time, it has been proven to be correct through countless observations and experiments in the scientific community for more than 100 years, without any refutation.

The so-called speed limit of light is that the speed of light in a vacuum is the ceiling of the speed of matter in the universe. The speed of any object with static mass cannot break through this ceiling, not even a fundamental particle. This ceiling speed is 299792458 meters per second.

The principle of the constancy of the speed of light is that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant when observed in any inertial system or inertial reference system, and does not change with the relative motion of the light source and the observer. Therefore, the speed of light becomes a constant in all of Einstein's theories, codenamed the letter "c".

In all theoretical formulas of Einstein's theory of relativity, the constant "c" of light speed is indispensable. For example, the mass-energy equation is: E=MC^2, where C is the speed of light; in the core of general relativity, the field equation, the constant "c" is also indispensable. The field equation is expressed as follows:

Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that studies the laws of motion of microscopic particles. It mainly studies basic theories such as atoms, molecules, condensed matter, atomic nuclei, and the structure and properties of elementary particles. Together with the theory of relativity, it constitutes the basic theory of modern physics.

The reason why quantum mechanics and relativity parted ways is that the Copenhagen school in the last century discovered that the laws followed by the microscopic world and the macroscopic world are different. In the quantum world, there are probabilistic phenomena such as the uncertainty principle, which must be described by wave functions. The Copenhagen school gradually won the debate with Einstein's classical school, thus forming its own school, which is recognized as the orthodox thought of quantum mechanics.

In this way, relativity is more used to describe and solve problems in the macroscopic world, while quantum mechanics mainly describes and solves problems in the microscopic world below the atom. The gap between relativity and quantum mechanics is the certainty of the macroscopic world and the uncertainty of the microscopic world.

But whether randomness really exists in the microscopic world of nature has not yet been finally determined and remains an unresolved issue. The Planck constant plays a decisive role in the gap between relativity and quantum mechanics.

The Planck constant is expressed in Js (joule/second) as the energy unit: h=6.62607015*10^-34 J·s; if expressed in eV·s (electron volt·second) as the energy unit: h=6.62607015*10^-34/1.602176 634*10^-19eV·s=4.1356676969*10^-15 eV·s.

The process of deriving this result was inspired by Planck's radiation law, which requires the speed of light constant "c" because the speed of electromagnetic waves is the speed of light (see figure below).

From this, we can conclude that as long as the speed of light limit and the principle of the constancy of the speed of light are impacted and overturned, the speed of light "c" will no longer be a "constant", all physical theories, including the two cornerstones of modern physics, will be destroyed, and thus, the edifice of modern physics will collapse.

So is it possible that the speed of light constant could be overturned?

I think it is unlikely, because the edifice of modern physics was not built since the advent of modern science, but can be traced back to the beginning of human intelligence, that is, the ape age.

Light is the most important existence and phenomenon in our world. Without light, there would be nothing. Everything we see is thanks to light: the stars in the sky and the colorful world are all because of light. Modern science has observed celestial bodies 13 billion light years away, also because of light.

The reason why this celestial body is 13 billion light years away is because light has a speed, which is the speed of light in a vacuum, 299,792,458 meters per second. Everything that humans can see is transmitted by light, which is not transmitted instantly but at a certain speed, so everything we see needs to be delayed, that is, lagged.

When we see something that is 1 meter away from us, it is already 300 millionth of a second in the past; when people see a flash on the moon, it is already a flash from 1 second ago, because the moon is more than 380,000 kilometers away from us, and the speed of light is about 300,000 kilometers per second; when we see a celestial body that is 1 light year away, it is the same as it was 1 year ago, because the light from this celestial body has taken 1 year to reach our retina.

Therefore, the light emitted by a celestial body 100 million light years away or 13 billion light years away is the light emitted 1 light year or 13 billion light years ago, so what we see is what it looked like 1 year ago or more than 13 billion years ago. According to the speed of light in a vacuum, 1 light year is about 9.46 trillion kilometers.

In this way, if there really is a super theory that denies the speed limit of light or the principle of the constancy of the speed of light, such as discovering that light is not a ceiling and that the speed of matter transmission in this world is faster than the speed of light, then everything we see becomes uncertain, and therefore the history recorded since the age of apes becomes nonsense. Is this possible?

Therefore, I think this kind of "super theory" is impossible to appear. Of course, there will be many new discoveries and breakthroughs in the future, and some theories may subvert existing theories, just like the theory of relativity revised and developed Newton's classical mechanics, but all theories cannot be "super" and cannot deny the most basic natural laws that humans have recognized for millions of years, such as the speed limit of light and the law of the constancy of the speed of light. Otherwise, human civilization cannot continue.

What do you think? Welcome to discuss, thanks for reading.

The copyright of Space-Time Communication is original. Infringement and plagiarism are unethical behavior. Please understand and cooperate.