Addendum Apr. 21, 2005:
An objection has been raised to the following interpretation of the propagation of light in that it does not explain stellar aberration. This is easily resolved since it requires only that a wave front be discontinuous; an attribute postulated by Huygens over 300 years ago and resurrected by A. Einstein in the form of light corpuscles (photons). In order to capture the image¹, a telescope of length [l] moving with a velocity [v] must be angled a distance [d], so that [d = lv/c].

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The Michelson-Morley experiment and those subsequent to it confirm that the speed of light is constant in the observer's frame of reference. The following conclusions must logically be drawn from this result:

1. Light propagates independently in all inertial frames of reference.
2. It exhibits compound velocities as measured by observers in relative motion.
3. The existence of a medium specific to each reference frame is required.
4. The speed is a characteristic of the medium only (and is also independent of frequency)
5. Its constancy defines the common attributes of the medium through which it moves.
6. It is a disturbance of the medium. A localized "object" cannot simultaneously occupy multiple locations.
7. The energy varies directly with relative motion between frames.
8. There is no contiguity between frames of reference.

Corroborative evidence for compound velocities may be found in the Lorentz transformation equations and are the sole reason for the invariance of Maxwell's equations for the propagation of light with respect to them. The significant difference between the classical view and the above is that absolute reference frames are an attribute of the particle and not of a universal substructure. This interpretation is consistent with the concept of the equivalence of all inertial frames of reference whereas a universal aether is not. It follows that absolute measurements within all reference frames are validated while allowing relative interactions between them.

The photon concept proposed by Einstein and its application in the photoelectric and Compton effects does not conflict with the above assessment. Photons have a parallel in Huygens wavelets used to explain the sharp demarcation of light waves at boundaries. Both argue strongly for the view that radiation is due solely to the quantum excitation of orbital electrons and collisions rather than the continuous spectrum of uniform oscillations whose wavelength varies with impulse and relative speed. The regularities of spectroscopy are a confirmation of this and also suggest if only by inference, that photon magnitudes remain constant.

k = R_k(1/n_f²-1/n_i²) (1)

where R_k = v/(4p l c), k = reciprocal wavelength, n_f and n_i = quantum integers of initial and final orbits.

Acceleration and deceleration produce an increase in potential and subsequent emission of radiation. This transfer involves a squared time and spherical surface in the denominator due to induction.

where B = magnetic field , E = electric, r and t = radius and time.The general form equates with the above given the same dimensions.(Times are equalized and fundamental units are assumed.)

The kinetic energy of a photon is expressed as a frequency times Planck’s constant (2p m_ov_or). By introducing [kc] as the radiation frequency [f], a valid energy expression of one-half the squared velocity is derived due to the [4p ] term in the denominator.

hf = hkc = ½m_xcv_o (2)

where m_x = photon "mass-equivalent", ie., the absence of mass.

This provides an entirely satisfactory result since the emission precisely equals the difference in mechanical energies when the quantum numbers are included. The problem of de Broglie’s lagging matter wave and its probabilistic interpretation⁵ is resolved. Note also that the angular momentum of the photon must reduce to the classical dimensions for a coupling with the (Compton) wavelength of the experimentally derived intrinsic magnetic moment of the electron.

By restricting our inquiry to sub-atomic particles, we may identify the medium as the electromagnetic field thereby avoiding conjecture. While it has been the practice to think of an underlying continuum devoid of physical attributes, the field concept incorporates the familiar physical quantities associated with charge and matter. There is a progression in the quantized states of the hydrogen atom to the point of zero energy. The progression is evident in wavelengths. Beginning with the "classical electron radius", the Compton wavelength, the first Bohr orbit of the hydrogen atom and the Rydberg Constant increase progressively by a factor of [1/a ], the fine line constant.

The propagation of light is no doubt dependent on this ratio. In a qualitative sense, the function appears to be a rapid transfer between kinetic and potential energies signified by the light and sub-light speeds in (2). This combination of speeds occurs throughout and is particularly evident in the formulas of relativity. There is a simultaneous generation of magnetic and electric fields which cannot be attributed to anything but the medium, or as will be identified later, a dual medium and the continual regeneration of electromagnetic force.

Compound velocities relative to the observer’s frame constitute a de facto basis for the Sagnac effect. The calculation is generally based on a rotation, but precisely the same result ensues for a linear translation when a relative speed is substituted for the rate of rotation.

There are strong indications that the photon aspect of light (its physical momentum) is an exclusively magnetic phenomenon detached from matter as it incorporates all of the following:

1. The charge of the emitting fundamental particle is constant. The magnetic field varies.
2. The photon bears no net charge, which infers a dipole arrangement.
3. A Compton collision exhibits only dynamic and magnetic variables. Charge is constant.
4. A spin of one is comprehensible only in a dipole arrangement, if at all.
5. In a classical wave train, the direction of the magnetic force is parallel to the motion.
6. The Compton effect is a coupling of the wavelength of the intrinsic magnetic moment with the photon.