I know what the speed of light is basically the speed limit of everything in the universe, and no information can travel faster than light itself. Light also exhibits many interesting properties and also serves as a constant for many formulae and equations in physics. The space-time continuum changes depending on what fraction of the speed of light at which you are travelling.
However, why light? Why is light and only light the one “phenomenon” that dictates most of physics? What makes light so special? My apologies if the question is phrased kind of strange.
In: Physics
The universe is made up of several different fields that are all around us, all the time. When particles travel through them they are affected. One of these fields is called the Higgs field. This is the one that gives particles mass when they travel through it. Light, unlike most particles, isn’t affected by the Higgs field, therefore it has no mass and can travel at the fastest speed possible. Because we figured out that Light is unaffected by mass, we used it as the marker for the constant maximum speed of the universe.
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