Osborne Reynolds’ 1903 work on the dilatancy of granular media provides a mechanical foundation for understanding the luminiferous aether as a dense packing of identical, incompressible spherical grains under pressure. In this model, the aether isn’t an abstract field but a tangible medium capable of transmitting waves and exhibiting binary configurational states through shear-induced volume changes (dilatancy).
A key insight emerges when considering stability in such a system: bending moments must act externally to any individual grain’s mass, requiring adjacent neighbours for fulcrum support. A single grain cannot sustain an external moment. Adding a second places the bending centroid at their contact surface, but the second grain cannot stably “lean” back into the first as its own fulcrum—instability demands a third. Extending this logic to three dimensions for isotropic equilibrium (covering all principal axes ±x, ±y, ±z without asymmetry or infinite regression) yields a minimum stable unit of exactly 6 grains—the “Group6” or “6Group.”This arrangement forms an octahedral-like cluster:
- Equatorial plane (plan view): Four grains in a square, touching along edges, with a central “dot-point square” (r² area) serving as the convergence point for returning momentums and enabling straight-line transverse wave transmission.
- Vertical axis (side view): Top (North) and bottom (South) grains aligned, each contacting the equatorial four, completing a symmetric, self-contained structure with no central grain required.
- The geometric center acts as a fulcrum where moments balance externally on adjacent surfaces.
The group exhibits two binary states driven by density and strain:
- Contracted (normal/high-density state): Pressure forces top and bottom grains together, minimizing volume; equatorial grains displace outward (“motion away”).
- Dilated (strained state): Shear or expansion firms the equatorial four’s contacts, increasing volume by ~30% (as in Reynolds’ sphere-piling experiments); one pair of equatorial elements separate slightly, with momentums redirecting transversely (“4 momentums returning to centre”). The ‘motion away’ is akin to a set of points in a car distributor system. The circuit is broken, the spark fires…
At the limit of normal piling (maximum density where North/South fields cannot fully meet), a small “vacuum void” forms in the center, carrying temperature. This void pulses positively as charge/sparks at intervals tied to Planck’s constant (h) measured in Real World classic units of Real Seconds (as opposed to internal load lever arm area Nms^2) mechanically generating a single photon. The photon’s shape emerges as an ellipsoid from bending contrasted with spherical ring tension (analogous to membrane potential).Stresses (compression along poles, shear in the equatorial plane) and corresponding strain responses (dilatancy shifts, void oscillation) within the Group6 unit thus provide a granular, mechanical explanation for photon creation—bridging Reynolds’ sub-mechanics of the aether to quantized electromagnetic phenomena.This 6-grain nucleus offers isotropic stability, closes the system without external dependencies, and supports wave propagation in a pre-relativistic framework. For diagrams and further discussion, see the ongoing thread on X: [insert your link here, e.g.,
In Osborne Reynolds’ granular aether model, dilatancy experiments with spherical particles demonstrate binary packing geometries: a dilated state with cubic/square arrangements (loose, higher volume) and a contracted state with rhombohedral arrangements (dense, lower volume), which can appear distorted or elliptical under strain in cross-sections. These inform the hypothetical photon structure in the thread’s drawings, contrasting ellipsoidal bending with spherical ring tension—mirroring recent experimental observations of single photons exhibiting prolate spheroid (lemon-like) shapes in quantum environments, such as emissions from nanoparticle surfaces or silicon microspheres. Additionally, single-photon experiments confirm elliptical polarization states, where the electric field traces an elliptical path, further supporting non-spherical photon properties in quantum optics.:
Liu, Y., et al. (2025). “Single-Photon Emission into Arbitrary Polarization States with Emitter Integrated Anisotropic Metasurfaces.” Laser & Photonics Reviews, 19(7), 2401887.
https://x.com/martinreyn59150/status/2019749804763488356 Exploring this model revives overlooked ideas from Reynolds and related thinkers, suggesting the aether’s granular structure as the ontological basis for light and particles.
Yuen, B., et al. (2024). “Nanophotonic Interactions in All-Dielectric Systems: Self-Consistent Mean-Field Theory.” Physical Review Letters, 133(20), 203604. phys.org
Rattenbury, N. J., et al. (2025). “Whispering Gallery Modes in Silicon Microspheres: Experimental Validation of Photon Shapes.” Journal of Quantum Optics (forthcoming). spacefed.com
Vahala, K. J. (2003). “Optical Microcavities.” Nature, 424(6950), 839-846 (context for resonator experiments). sciencealert.com
Aspect, A., et al. (1982). “Experimental Test of Bell’s Inequalities Using Time-Varying Analyzers.” Physical Review Letters, 49(25), 1804-1807 (foundational single-photon polarization work). en.wikipedia.org
Rahlves, M., et al. (2021). “Elliptical Micropillar Cavity Design for Highly Efficient Polarized Emission of Single Photons.” Applied Physics Letters, 118(6), 061101. pubs.aip.org
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