A Galilean Emission-Wave Model of Light: Consistency, Predictions and Experimental Constraints, Postulate by Postulate
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: A Galilean Emission-Wave Model of Light: Consistency, Predictions and Experimental Constraints, Postulate by Postulate Author: K. L. Senarath Dayathilake Description This paper develops and critically examines a Galilean emission-wave model of light based on four fundamental postulates: Galilean space and time, source-dependent light emission, elastic reflection in the instantaneous rest frame of a moving mirror, and the quantum relations between photon energy, frequency, momentum and wavevector. The model provides a mathematical framework for examining the consequences of source-dependent light propagation and reflection from moving boundaries. Starting from its postulates, the paper derives a dispersion relation, ω = c|k| + k·v_src, and examines the resulting transformations of frequency, energy, momentum and wavelength between Galilean reference frames. It also investigates reflection from moving mirrors, mirror recoil, and the behaviour of interferometers with stationary optical components. A central objective is to distinguish the mathematical consistency of the proposed light-sector model from its physical compatibility with established experimental observations. The paper therefore examines the postulates and associated assumptions separately against several experimental constraints, including fast-source photon measurements, relativistic Doppler measurements using stored ions, positive and negative muon lifetimes, atmospheric muon survival, relativistic electron velocities and lunar laser ranging. The analysis identifies substantial conflicts between several predictions of the proposed framework and established experimental results. In particular, the source-dependent emission postulate, Galilean time with motion-independent clocks, and Newtonian matter dynamics encounter serious empirical difficulties. The analysis also identifies limitations arising from the absence of a complete field theory, matter dynamics and a general light–matter interaction theory. The paper further examines the reflection postulate independently and proposes a direction-reversal experiment using a rotating reflector. The proposed experiment compares the round-trip propagation time of light for opposite directions of reflector motion. It predicts a differential timing signal under the proposed reflection law, whereas the conventional relativistic treatment predicts no corresponding first-order signal. The study has two principal objectives: to establish the mathematical consequences of an explicitly defined Galilean emission-wave framework, and to identify the experimental constraints that determine whether its individual postulates can describe physical reality. The work does not claim that the proposed framework replaces special relativity. Rather, it presents a postulate-by-postulate theoretical examination, identifies its empirical limitations, and develops an experimental strategy for investigating the moving-mirror reflection assumption independently. The proposed experiment remains theoretical and requires experimental implementation. The numerical comparisons and historical experimental values also require verification against the original publications and complete experimental analyses. Keywords: Galilean emission theory; ballistic theory of light; source-dependent light propagation; special relativity; Galilean transformations; moving mirrors; photon energy and momentum; dispersion relations; relativistic time dilation; muon decay; lunar laser ranging; experimental tests of fundamental physics.
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225625942
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