c = 299,792,458 m/s Does Not Limit Speed❗

We got it upside down. The fact is, c just defines local time unit s (second)❗

Published in

Time Matters

5 min readMay 24, 2024

A C T U A L L Y :
1) Speed of light is not constant!
2) Speed of time is not constant!
3) c-speed-limit can be breached!

The only real meaning of c = 299,792,458 m/s is:

• SECOND is the time interval during which a light beam travels 299,792,458 meters.
Or to make it more local to an area:
• NANOSECOND is the time interval during which a light beam travels about 30 cm (about a foot).

Since Maxwell, c actually appeared. Maxwell never claimed that c was constant. On the contrary, he linked speed of light c to electric property of space called permittivity (denoted as ε) and magnetic property of space called permeability (denoted as μ): c = 1/sqrt(ε×μ), where sqrt denotes square root. And he was the first to recognize, based on this relation, that light is just an electromagnetic wave.

BUT since Einstein, we believe in “c as absolute speed of light”. That is because all variability of light speed is hidden in variability of time, discovered and introduced by Einstein. Check an explanation in Did Einstein Stand on Newton’s Shoulders? — No, on Maxwell’s!:

Einstein coined “time dilation” term, which we denote as number D, which measures how many times the time flow is slower in an area compared to another area (or compares how time speeds differ at different moments of time in the same area), for example:

D = 1 means no time dilation — time flow in both areas is the same;
D = 2 means that time is twice slower in an area compared to another;
D = 1/2 means that time is twice faster in an area compared to another;
D = 1.000002 is the rate of time slowness near the Sun compared to the time on the Earth;
D = 2 — time in the Universe was twice slower 14 billion years ago than it is now;
D = 12 — time in the Universe was 12 times slower 32 billion years ago than it is now (explained in “Time Matters” chapter 1).

Time speed varies even between our feet and our head levels, check Gravity and Time for a good explanation:

Link between gravity and time dilation was proposed by Einstein via his spacetime curvature model. But recently I explained gravity as net time dilation effect. No spacetime curvature needed: classical mechanical Potential = 0.5×c²/D² explains gravity as time pressure:

Now, based on what we have discussed, c is “local” speed of light — in local- to-the-area time units, and c/D is “apparent” speed of light for an observer outside of this area, where D is time dilation in the area compared to the observer’s time. Thus, c/D is the speed of light in observer’s time units, vs. c as the light speed in local time units.

We are done with 1) and 2) (from the beginning of this article). Now to

3) c-speed-limit can be breached!

Since Einstein, we know that time inside a fast moving object slows down at the rate D = 1/sqrt(1—v²/c²), where D is time dilation inside the object, and v is the speed of the object (Einstein says “A lot to consider, I know” about this formula in the video above). When v comes close to c, D value becomes very big, meaning time slows down significantly. v cannot reach c, because that would mean time stops inside that object (D = ∞). That is the theoretical justification for the c-speed limit. Can it be breached? Counterintuitive answer is “Yes”, and it happens all the time, for example, when an object/particle moving at close to c speed enters a slower time area:

In slower-time-area units, the object’s speed increases by time dilation factor D, thus exceeding c (since it was already close to c). Paradox/conflict with the theory? Yes! And how does nature resolve it? — By partial burning time on the path of the object, with matter / antimatter / light shower on the path: time on that path becomes faster (“less thick”). With a faster ticking clock on that path, a greater distance can be covered thanks to the fact that we have more of these shortened seconds (the distance = number of seconds multiplied by c). This time-into-matter burning mechanism explains how matter appeared from nothing but time, and that Galaxies, Not the Big Bang, Are Birthplace of Matter .