The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model where the vacuum's electromagnetic properties and the speed of light emerge from the behavior of transient fermion pairs, leading to testable predictions about photon propagation fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum vacuum model linking fermion pairs to electromagnetic constants and derives the photon speed from this framework.

Findings

Photon velocity derived from vacuum properties

Prediction of photon flight time fluctuations

Proposes experimental test for fluctuations

Abstract

We show that the vacuum permeability and permittivity may originate from the magnetization and the polarization of continuously appearing and disappearing fermion pairs. We then show that if we simply model the propagation of the photon in vacuum as a series of transient captures within these ephemeral pairs, we can derive a finite photon velocity. Requiring that this velocity is equal to the speed of light constrains our model of vacuum. Within this approach, the propagation of a photon is a statistical process at scales much larger than the Planck scale. Therefore we expect its time of flight to fluctuate. We propose an experimental test of this prediction.