Unified Field Theory
From a Different Perspective

732 Last modified September 22, 2013

Willis H. Thompson, B.S., B.A., M.A.T.
Professor Emeritus, Natural Sciences
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182

added by Vernon Brown
July 1, 2012
September 21, 2013

The presence of electric and magnetic activity in an area affect the permittivity and permeability of space. Permittivity and permeability determine the speed of light in accord with Maxwell's equations. Sir Author Eddington showed how this must provide the mechanism of gravity. Published in 1920, Eddington's paper explained in detail how the path of light must bend toward the direction where light moves more slowly. Comprised of light, massive objects must gravitate toward that same direction.

Comprised of light, massive objects radiate electric and magnetic fields that affect ambient permittivity and permeability. These constants of space directly determine the impedance of space. The impedance of space directly determine the speed of light.


In this paper the authors put forth a major new theory about the three basic particles -- the electron, proton and neutron. The theory, called the Photon Theory, is an effort to achieve a Unified Field Theory that Einstein and his colleagues pursued, that theory explaining mass and gravity in terms of electromagnetic waves.

The main ideas of the paper are:

1) An electron is created when a gamma ray of very high frequency interacts with a similar ray under a minimum energy condition. The gamma ray is bent so strongly that it forms a stable resonating circle. An equation to find the diameter of the electron from its mass is derived from three other basic equations. The diameter of the electron is found to be several orders of magnitude larger than previously accepted.

2) In terms of electron mass taken equal to unity, by the Photon Theory, the total mass of the proton and that of the neutron are found to agree with past measurements; however, there are two new inner photon shells in each of the particles which have not been acknowledged or named.

3) The charge of an electron develops from asymmetry when the photon goes into resonance. There is recent experimental evidence of this. Single photons are now trapped in resonant cavities and found to exhibit electric charge.

4) The electromagnetic amplitude available at any one point in space is the maximum value equal to Planck's constant.

5) "Massive" objects are comprised only of photons. The mutual attraction of "masses" is explained.

6) Wave-particle duality is explained as the observation of maxima of waves, which previously have been assumed to be particles.

7) A red shift of certain spectrum lines is described by partial absorption of photons, contradicting the part of Quantum Mechanics, which states that only complete photons can be absorbed.

8) The universe is in a steady-state condition- where photons are being continuously changed into mass and vice versa. This opposes the expansion theory of the universe (the "big bang"). However, it is not the same as The Hoyle Steady-State Theory, wherein mass is created from nothing.

9) Ultimately, all mass and energy are effects of the time variant cause, photon action. This does not allow the existence of a massive neutrino.  Neutrinos must be mass less.

10) The theory exhibits complementarity with Einstein's principle of special relativity except Postulate 2 (inertial frame of reference) and complementarity with Quantum Mechanics except for the item referred in (7) above.

Historical Background

As early as 1864 James Clerk Maxwell suggested that not only light, but all mass as well, might he described in terms of electromagnetic fields alone. This was discussed at length in Albert Einstein's article, "Physics and Reality," which first appeared in the "Journal of the Franklin Institute," in the March issue of 1936.

Einstein described several electromagnetic theories of matter advanced by H.A. Lorentz and Heinrich Hertz, as well as Maxwell, which were inadequate because they could never quite explain the inertial properties of mass with Maxwell's partial differential equations.

Einstein summed up by agreeing that the theory was a possible reality, but added, "What appears certain to me, however, is that, in the foundations of any consistent field theory, the particle concept must not appear in addition to the field concept."

H.A. Lorentz advanced a theory that avoided the problem in Maxwell's equations. His theory explained the most fundamental components of mass using only Maxwell's equations, but the theory was finally abandoned because it required the concept of particles. Einstein pointed out that the theory also failed to explain the tremendous forces which hold the electric charges on the individual particles.

If the most fundamental structures of mass were electromagnetic only, the components of the structure, must always move at the speed of light. Maxwell's equations and observed reality must have it so. This did not fit into the theory of relativity. If the most fundamental structure of mass moved in patterns at the speed of light, relativity would be a natural result. Mass would necessarily be related to the speed of light, just as was observed. This was shown by H.A. Lorentz and set down in equations that became widely known as the Lorentz transformations.

Reality could be classical mass and relative space-time (as Albert Einstein assumed) or it could be relative mass and classical space and time. Both assumptions worked equally well to explain observation, as was shown by Lorentz. (See Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction theory)

Einstein could have chosen either idea in his 1905 paper on special relativity, but he chose relative space-time. One of his two postulates of special relativity was that there was no special inertial frame of reference. His second postulate was that light of any wavelength always traveled at a constant speed in any inertial frame of reference. These postulates immediately introduced several ideas which were not in accord with reality as experienced by the average educated person--a limit to signals of any kind, increasing mass of a high speed object, shortening of a high speed object, no inertial reference from which to measure the movement of objects, time dilation, etc.

In 1955 Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson of Bell Laboratories made a discovery which supported classical space and time. They discovered that there was a 3 degrees Kelvin background radiation coming down on Earth from all directions. This radiation seemed to be Doppler shifted slightly toward the blue in the direction of the constellation Leo, and slightly toward the red in the opposite direction. The amount of shift indicated that the earth and all the surrounding galaxies were moving through the background toward the constellation Leo at about 500 miles per second.

This implied that there might exist a special inertial frame of reference--the background radiation--that could be considered to be at rest in space. If this were true, it would falsify Einstein's major assumption in his theory of relativity. It would imply that it really was the fundamental structure of the mass and not the fundamental structure of space and time that caused the observed relativistic effects.

According to Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism, energy propagated into space when a charged particle accelerated (decelerated). The energy moved away from its source in a straight line at the speed of light. As the light (later named a photon) passed through a volume of space, an electric field was created which went from zero to maximum to zero again, then to maximum in the opposite polarity, and then back to zero. The changing electric field E instantaneously created a magnetic field of the same wave shape, except that it was rotated about the line of motion by 90 degrees.

Photon Schematic as it was known in the early 1900's.
All experiments that determined the anatomy are still valid.

The changing magnetic field induces a new electric field along the line of travel of the light and this coupling action continues without loss of energy. Without interference, this wave could theoretically continue in a straight line to infinity. Physicists of the time asked an obvious question: "What is the medium through which a light wave is traveling?" In 1887 Michelson and Morley's experiment to measure the speed of the earth through the medium (the "ether") found that there was no medium. It was explained by saying that the electromagnetic field itself was the medium (and later by Einstein's theory of relativity.)

Max Planck in 1900 contended that heat energy could not be emitted from a radiating body continuously, but only in discrete packets called quanta (singular: quantum). He found the value of this small amount of energy-time (h) to be 6.5252 x 10-34 Joule sec.

Niels Bohr applied the quantum idea successfully to electron transitions in the hydrogen atom to explain spectral lines, which had been observed for several years. According to his theory, light was emitted from the hydrogen atom when an electron moved toward the center of the atom (lost energy) an integral number of quanta. The wave length (color) of the light emitted was given by the equation:

E - hv

or v - E/h

Where E is the energy of position lost by the electron--and v is the frequency (Hertz) of the light.

From here on the theory by Brown will be referred to as Photon Theory to distinguish it from the Unified Field Theory of Einstein and his colleagues. If it is accepted by the scientific community, then it might be appropriate in honor of Einstein's many years of work in this area to rename Photon Theory, "Unified Field Theory."


Photon Theory claims that photons comprise all mass. It follows the rule of complementarity, in that it is consistent with the principles of relativity, except that it explains relativity from a different approach. It attempts to simplify and unify, having no exotic conditions such as black holes, the "Big Bang", "Worm Holes" into other universes, wave-particle duality or traveling backward in time. The phenomena of mass, size of particles, charge of particles, gravity, and inertia are described in such a way that their reality can be tested and in many cases have already been tested with instruments available today.

The main statement of the theory is that photons comprise all mass. Another way of saying it is that electromagnetic waves cause mass and gravity, as well as light, radio and radiant heat.

Formation of the Electron:

When two gamma-ray photons pass very close their fields interfere, bending the paths of the photons. This interference can cause a complete loop to occur.

Anatomy of an Electron

An electron is a single photon trapped in a self resonant loop. The photon's negative field is always toward the outside because it completes its negative to positive sinusoidal swing as it completes its sine-function-governed circle. The other particles, shown to scale, are comprised of electron-like shells. They are smaller because rate of electric and magnetic change determines mass. One wave length completes the circumference. Shorter wave length equates to smaller size.

In order for the electron to orbit atomic nuclei without losing energy, it must engulf the nucleus such that its points of maximum amplitude traverse the circle at the speed of light. Protons find equilibrium between the positively charged inside of the electron's shell and the positively charged outer surface of the proton's shell.

Particle Sizes to Scale

Electric and magnetic fields emitted from a photon on a curved path are asymmetric. The field on the outside of the curve must necessarily be larger than the field on the inside. This causes an electric charge. The amplitude of the charge is greatest at the radius of the curve.

When photons complete one loop in one wave length they are in resonance. This resonance and the electric charge caused by the bend in their paths provide the force that lock photons in stable loops. They remain in the loops until some force great enough to overcome the force of their resonance and charge comes to bear.

Size of the Electron

An electron consists of a one-photon loop. The circumference of any one-photon particle is the wavelength of a photon whose energy is equal to the mass of the particle. Size may thus be calculated with the equation

d  =  h  / pi *  mc.

Where d is diameter in centimeters h is Planck's constant in erg-sec. m is mass in grams and c is the speed of light in centimeters per second. (Equation derivation is below)

Size of other Particles:

Protons are composed of three one-photon loops whose diameters conform to the above equation. Neutrons are made of four; the three of the proton, plus one extra outside shell.

If the mass of the neutron's outer shell is 2.5499146 electron masses, it begins a square-of-the-shells sequence which determines the mass of the three inside shells (See Mass of Particles below) and the size of the inside shells, using the equation.

Proton = 1.1889 x 10-11
Neutron = 3.0317 x 10-11
Shell (3) = 1.8285 x 10-12
Shell (4) = 4.3252 x 10-14

Shell structure of a proton. The outside shell is comparatively weak and does not scatter electrons to the extent that two inside shells do.  Like  fields oppose each other keeping each outer shell equidistant from the next inner shell. The inner most shell is too small to show up at the scale of the image below.

Proton construct

Results of electron-probe measurements made by Dr. Robert Hofstadter, beginning in 1951 and continuing for at least a decade, detected the innermost shell (4) and next to innermost shell (3). They were measured to be as calculated by Photon Theory within the limits of his instruments. Outer shells and electron sizes were not detected because of their relatively small energy values. Issac Asimov reported this in his, "Intelligent man's guide to Science," but Dr. Hofstadter's shell hypothesis did not find wide acceptance.

Mass of Particles [Menu]

According to the Photon Theory, all mass is comprised of photons trapped in loops by self-resonance and charge. Only loops of certain circumference are stable. The mass of the neutron's outer shell (1 on Figure 3) is 2.5499 electron masses. The proton's outer shell (2 on Figure3) is the square of 2.5499 = 6.5021. The next smaller shell (3) has a mass of 6.5021 squared or 42.2773 and the final shell (4) a mass of 42.2773 squared or 1787.37 electron masses.

The sum of shells 2, 3 and 4 is the proton's total mass, and the sum of shells 1, 2, 3 and 4 is the neutron's total mass (in electron masses). In summary the masses of the three elemental particles are:

Electron = 1 electron mass

Proton = 1,836.1521 electron masses

Neutron = 1,838.7020 electron masses


All loops composed of one photon must exhibit electric charge which emanates from asymmetry in the photon's bent path. Electric and magnetic fields emitted from a photon on a curved path are asymmetric in that the field on the outside of the curve occupies more area than the field on the inside. This asymmetry shows up as an electric charge, the amplitude of which is inversely proportional to the square of the radius of the bent path. Charge equal to that of an electron occurs when the electron is in resonance at a bend of radius equal to 3.8 x 10-11 cm.

Amplitude of Photons [Menu]

Photon energy is inversely proportional to photon wave length; the shorter the wavelength, the greater the energy. Since photon speed through space is a constant, shorter wavelengths must pass a point in space in less time than longer wave lengths. Because of this, and the fact that the maximum possible electric and magnetic amplitude of any point in space is a certain finite value, photon action, expressed as Joule-seconds is a constant for all photons regardless of frequency.

Planck's constant is this amount of electromagnetic amplitude available at any one point in space. Note that it is not a property of a photon, but rather a property of space itself. It is therefore not only the maximum amount but also the minimum amount of action  available for a photon in space. This property of space is the key to the how gravity is caused by the Planck's-Constant phenomenon.


Photons in a "mass" emit the electric and magnetic fields just as do photons free in space. Photons traveling through the same local area must share the available "action" of that area since the action is a property of space and not a property of individual photons. A photon reaches saturation at an offset toward increasing field strength of the fields present in this local area. This causes photon paths to bend toward massive objects and since massive objects are comprised only of photons, massive objects change direction toward increasing photon field strength. So they approach each other or are attracted.

Remembering that a massive object is composed of moving photons, then moving a massive object causes it to be more massive. Relative rate of photon field change must increase to accommodate the motion. That composition is also why mass can never exceed the speed of light and why the theory of relativity is real. Relativity is a necessary consequence of the photonic construct of mass.

Wave-Particle Duality [Menu]

The points of electromagnetic saturation (equal to Planck's constant) are what has been observed as particles in experiments with suitable detection equipment. This would reasonably cause light waves to appear to be both particles and waves, depending on the method of observation. This can explain the troubling problem in Quantum Mechanics that postulated that light existed in mutually exclusive states. The states are not mutually exclusive. Both states exist all the time. [Note: The points of electromagnetic saturation are not observed; we concur with Dr. Robert Kemp that it is the maxima of the rate of change that is observed; and we agree that mass is simply electromagnetic change; mass is electromagnetic change and mass is nothing else]

Steady-State Universe

A universe which consists only of electric and magnetic phenomena is somewhat different from the standard-model universe currently favored by mainstream scientists. It is not expanding, for example, and it did not begin out of nothing with a huge explosion. This electromagnetic universe is a churning mix of photons.

Photon action is only potential, not work, so photons can move through space unchanged, but photons can mix and match, and trade energy with each other. A photon can split, and so become two photons, each with a portion of the original energy. Likewise two photons can become one photon with the energy of both the parent photons. These actions are all routinely observed and recorded in university labs all over the world.

Photons can be robbed of energy by other photons, so that two photons each with the same frequency can become two photons such that one has a greater frequency than the other. This exchange of energy is contiguous, in that all values of exchange are possible, from the slightest red shift to the complete annihilation of one photon when it is absorbed by another.

According to Photon Theory, characteristics of photons are also present in photons free in space, and in photons trapped in mass. Photons' red shift is the natural result of photon aging as free photons in space travel through fields emitting from trapped photons in mass. Free photons react with the fields and give up energy to them, suffering a decrease in frequency, and a migration toward increasing field strength as a result.

According to Photon Theory, photons in space give up energy as they pass through fields of other photons. The red shift is a natural property of photons, observed on earth when photons interfere, and observed in space, which is not an absolute vacuum and is swarming with photons from massive stars and galaxies.

The amount of red shift is determined by, and is directly proportional to, the amount of photon flux given off by massive objects and by photon flux emanating from all free photons as well. This amount of red shift is also an approximation of distance because a greater distance usually contains more photon flux, due to the somewhat symmetrical abundance of massive objects and photons in space as indicated by the background radiation.

Falsifiable Predictions

Of course, the doppler effect also produces a red shift. There is a slight difference, however, in the two kinds of red shift. The red shift caused by photon flux density will be shifted slightly more in the blue regions than in the red regions, whereas the doppler shifted photons will be equally shifted in both the red and blue regions. This is because higher frequencies react with greater intensity then lower frequencies.

To the extent that the amount of photon flux is not symmetrically abundant in space, the value of the Hubble constant will vary. This may be observed by measuring the Hubble constant in areas of different flux density, using the methods commonly in use, such as the brightness of planetary nebula.

According to Photon Theory, all mass is composed of photons trapped in loops by self resonance and charge. Only loops of certain circumference are stable, but many of different circumference are stable for a time great enough to be observed. These are observed in collision debris from particle accelerators.

All loops composed of one photon must exhibit electric charge, which emanates from asymmetry in the photon's bent path. Neutral particles are composed of more than one photon loop sandwiched together to neutralize the charge. An electron like particle less massive than an electron is therefore not possible. Neutrinos cannot be particles but must be some kind of photon.

Some photon loops are stable only when accompanied by other loops, and combined loops of this fashion occur naturally where the density of photon flux is great enough. This is observed in electron-positron collisions, where electrons and positrons are accelerated to produce very high flux density upon collision. Such collisions produce an array of short-lived unstable particles as well as an abundance of normal protons, electrons, neutrons, and their antimatter counterparts.

Stable photon loops can absorb lower frequency photons and become excited; they can then emit these lower frequency photons to return to their natural state. This condition is observed in artificially created particles such as hyperons, which decay by emitting lesser particles and photons to become protons and neutrons.

In the Photon Theory universe, free photons in space tend to become mass by interacting with other photons. Gamma-ray photons become mass directly while photons of lower frequency become trapped in mass by contributing to the movement, or energy, of the particles.

This universe is like a gigantic boiling pot, continuously changing mass to energy in galaxies, then changing energy back into mass deep in space. All the processes are observed easily and repeatedly in laboratories.

Electrons and positrons, created out of gamma-ray interaction deep in space, collide to produce protons and neutrons, the fundamental building blocks of mass. The neutrons decay into protons, electrons, and sometimes a neutrino, which in photon theory must be a spin-polarized photon.

Hydrogen atoms accumulate in large clouds due to their own gravity, and these clouds progress as in the standard model to form stars and galaxies. In the Photon Theory, these galaxies then decay over many billions of years by throwing out photons and high energy particles into space.

Elements of mass more complicated in structure than the hydrogen atom are manufactured in galaxies as was shown by Sir Fred Hoyle. The Photon Theory universe is similar to Sir Fred Hoyle's steady-state theory of the universe, but differs in two very significant ways.

These are contained in Sir Fred's ideas of continuous universal expansion and the creation of mass out of empty space. In the Photon Theory, the universe is not expanding. Mass is created by photon interaction, neither being created nor destroyed, merely changing form.

Not only are all observable phenomena reasonably explained, but also the fundamental cause of the phenomena is fully explained. Moreover, these phenomena are explained in such a way that their reality can be tested and in many cases have already been tested, with instruments available today.

Testable Predictions of the Photon Theory [Menu]

1. There is no component of mass which cannot become photons. (Photons comprise all mass.)

2. Photons are the fundamental and only source of gravity.

3. Photon migration is the fundamental and only cause of gravity.

4. Energy content of the elementary particles constitute the totality of the particles.

5. Bending the path of a photon will produce an electric charge. Amplitude of the charge at the radius is a function of the radius of the bend, increasing inversely with the square of the bend radius. Since amplitude must decrease as the square of the distance, and the greater amplitude must emit from the square of a smaller radius, all measurements will show the same value, that of electron charge.

6. Electric charge caused by photon path bending produces positive feedback which bends the path of the photon more in the same direction.

7. Photons in gravity fields red shift by an amount that accumulates with time and their paths bend toward the gravity source.

8. Amount of bending is double the amount caused by gravity because of the feedback described above.

9. Electron diameter is about half of 7.73060 x 10-11 cm.

10. Neutron diameter is about half of 3.03171 x 10-11 cm, which is shell one diameter.

11. Proton diameter is about half of 1.18893 x 10-11 cm, which is shell two diameter.

12. Proton structure is three photon shells.

13. Neutron structure is four photon shells.

14. Shell four diameter is about half of 4.32512 x 10-14 cm.

15. Neutron mass is 2.5499 electron masses greater than proton mass.

16. Shell three diameter is about half of 1.82857 x 10-12 cm.

17. Shell one mass is 2.5499 electron masses.

18. Shell two mass is 6.50206 electron masses.

19. Shell three mass is 42.27684 electron masses.

20. Shell four mass is 1787.37 electron masses.

Derivation of the Shell-Diameter Equation

The equation for the size of the shells and particles was derived from Einstein's E = mc2 and Planck's E = hv, where E was energy in Joules (ergs), m was mass in Kilograms (grams) and c was the speed of light in meters (centimeters) per second. Planck's equation E = hv allowed hv to replace Einstein's E to get:

hv = mc2

Frequency, v, is equal to the speed of light, c, divided by wavelength w, so the v in the above equation can be replaced by c/w to obtain:

hc/w = mc2

Wavelength, w, would represent the circumference of the photon loop in the hypothesis, and circumference is pi times diameter, so w can be replaced by pi times d to obtain:

hc/(pi x d) = mc2

Divide both sides by hc to obtain:

1/(pi x d) = mc2/hc

Invert both sides to obtain:

pi x d = hc/mc2

Divide both sides by pi to obtain:

d = hc/(pi x mc2)

Simplify to obtain:

d = h/(pi x mc)

Stated simply, the result of all this was that shell diameter was equal to Planck's constant divided by the product of pi, shell mass, and the speed of light.

References [Menu]

1. Saleh, B.E.A. and Teich, M.C., Fundamentals of Photonics, 1991, Wiley Interscience, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore

2. The World of Physics, Weaver, Simon & Schuster, New York.

3. Isaac Asimov, The New Intelligent Man's Guide to Science, Basic Books Inc., New York.

4. Isaac Asimov, Understanding Physics, Dorset Press, USA.