On the Order of Gravity

The Cracking Foundation

For over a century, the tower of modern physics has rested on a single, pivotal postulate: Albert Einstein’s declaration that the speed of light, c, is an absolute, universal constant.

This declaration solved equations, but at the cost of abandoning physical mechanism. Without a reason for c to be constant, we are left with abstract geometry (spacetime) and mathematical predictions, but no causal root for gravity, redshift, or the cosmos itself.

Important as this postulate is to relativity, there is
NO PROOF IT IS CORRECT!

The Physics of Energy

Restoring Mechanism: The Energy Solution

Framework	Fixed Constant	Variable Quantity	Mechanism Offered?	Consequence
Galileo (1590)	Acceleration of free fall (g)	Velocity	Yes — motion governed by uniform acceleration	Mass is of no consequence
Newton (1687)	Time (absolute)	Forces	Yes — forces act at a distance	Predictive but medium unknown
Einstein (1905)	c (declared constant)	Time and space	No — postulate, not derived	Predictive, but mechanism absent
Quantum Relativity (2025)	Impedance (Z₀) — coherence constant	c (varies with μ₀, ε₀)	Yes — energy flow regulated by medium	Predictive and mechanistic

The insight is simple but far-reaching: time is stable; the speed of energy is not.

What we call gravity is not a pull by mass or curvature of abstract spacetime, but the emergent result of spatial variations in the local speed of energy — the way energy accelerates through its medium.

The Mechanism

Space is not empty. Its electromagnetic properties — permittivity (ε₀) and permeability (μ₀) — determine the local propagation rate of energy:

$c(\mathbf{x}) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\mu(\mathbf{x})\,\varepsilon(\mathbf{x})}}}$

When those parameters change, c changes, and that gradient produces what we experience as acceleration:

$\mathbf{g} = \mathbf{-} \frac{\mathbf{1}}{\mathbf{2}} \nabla \mathbf{c}^\mathbf{2}$

$\mathbf{F} = m \mathbf{g} = \mathbf{-} \frac{\mathbf{m}}{\mathbf{2}} \nabla \mathbf{c}^\mathbf{2}$

Thus, mass does not cause gravity — it is a measure of energy content through $E = mc^2$ .

Gravity emerges where the energy speed changes as it flows through varying conditions in the medium.

The photon — a self-sustaining, differential circulation of charge — is the fundamental carrier of this energy and the bridge between quantum coherence and macroscopic motion.

Seeing the Pattern

When the constant-c assumption is lifted, the universe reorganizes. The Energentia framework reveals a consistent, causal pattern:

Gravity arises from spatial gradients of energy speed.
Time remains fixed and universal.
The universe operates through transparent cause and effect, not postulate.
c is local — the medium sets its limit.

From this, the paradoxes of modern physics dissolve:

No singularities
No dark matter
No variable time
No hidden variables

Quantum Relativity does not overthrow physics — it completes it.

Quantum Relativity (QR)

Quantum Relativity (QR) extends Einstein’s framework without rejecting it. It preserves geometry but redefines the invariant:

GR holds c constant and lets time vary; QR holds time constant and lets c(x) vary.

The field equations remain intact, but the physical picture gains cause. The true invariant is not light speed but vacuum impedance $Z_0$  — the constant ratio linking electric, magnetic, and gravitational expressions of energy.

This exchange restores symmetry: energy propagation varies with field conditions, while time remains universal.

The e₀u₀ Lattice — Substrate of Reality

QR describes the universe as a continuous electromagnetic lattice — the e₀u₀ medium — whose local parameters ε(x), μ(x) define both c(x) and $Z_0$

Energy flows as coherent photon phases, constrained by impedance.
Variations in ε, μ produce gravitational-like effects.
Coherent updates of lattice sites sustain stability and form matter.

Photon coherence — the alignment of phase and amplitude — decides whether energy propagates (radiation) or localizes (mass).

$\boldsymbol{E = m\,c(\mathbf{x})^2}$

Mass appears wherever photon phase velocity slows; radiation, where it flows freely. Gravity and inertia both emerge from gradients in c(x) — the field’s local capacity for energy coherence.

Information, Time, and Observation

Dimensions are not physical objects; they are reference frameworks. In QR, the universe is built not of coordinates but of relationships among coherent energy states.

Time is absolute — a fixed background against which energy unfolds. “Time dilation” arises not from time warping but from changes in information transfer rate as energy moves through regions of differing c(x).

A clock runs slower where information (photon coherence) propagates more slowly — not because time itself changes.

Design Principles

Fixed time, variable energy speed:

$\boldsymbol{c(\mathbf{x})^2 = \frac{1}{\mu(\mathbf{x})\varepsilon(\mathbf{x})} = \text{Variable}}$

Constant impedance:

$\boldsymbol{c(\mathbf{x})^2 = \frac{1}{\mu(\mathbf{x})\varepsilon(\mathbf{x})} = \text{Variable}}$

Photon coherence:

Wave phase: propagating energy.
Toroidal / standing phase: localized, self-reinforcing circulation.

All gravitational, electromagnetic, and quantum effects arise from the same coherent mechanism.

Predictions and Tests

Pound–Rebka: redshift = local variation of c(x).
Shapiro delay: photon path delay = field gradient, not spacetime curvature.
LIGO: gravitational “waves” as EM phase modulations of the e₀u₀ lattice.
JWST: ancient galaxies imply a static, ageless universe — consistent with QR.
Resonator & interferometer tests: measurable phase and frequency shifts in gradients.

Cosmic Implications

QR leads to a radically simpler cosmos:

No Big Bang — the universe is static, continuous, ageless.
No event horizons — black holes are regions where c → g.
Scale and structure emerge from field coherence, not expansion.

Gravity, quantum behavior, and information exchange all stem from the same lattice dynamics.

Next: The Role of Z₀ as the Mediator of Field Coherence and Gravitation

In Retrospect

By holding time fixed and allowing c(x) to vary within a constant-impedance medium, Quantum Relativity uncovers the physical root Einstein was searching for. The true invariant is not c but Z₀, the universal impedance of free space — the constant of energetic coherence linking light, matter, and gravity.

— Rod L. Mack

Yerington, Nevada

(Originally published October 2023 — revised 2025)