An Angular-Momentum-Based Hypothesis for Cosmology and Radiation: A Non-Gravitational, Non-Propagating Interpretation of Light and Structure Formation

This paper presents a speculative hypothesis that reinterprets several foundational assumptions in modern physics: the nature of gravity, the behavior of light, the nuclear forces, the matter-antimatter relationship, and the large-scale evolution of the universe. The central proposal is that angular momentum, rather than gravity, is the primary driver of structure formation and apparent "weight," and that what is currently described as propagating light is instead a stationary thermal residue of discrete phase transitions in matter and fields. Under this hypothesis, the observed constancy of the speed of light reflects the motion of the observer (and the Earth) through a field of stationary photons, rather than a fundamental propagation speed of light quanta themselves. A fundamental insight of the framework is the identification of photons as antimatter: the universe is not matter-dominated but exists in dynamic matter-antimatter equilibrium, with antimatter manifesting as the omnipresent photon field. The apparent absence of antimatter is resolved by recognizing that photon creation represents antimatter production and photon absorption represents matter-antimatter recombination, maintaining a continuous cosmic balance without requiring Sakharov-type baryogenesis mechanisms. This equilibrium, characterized by the baryon-to-photon ratio η ≈ 6×10⁻¹⁰, determines the cosmic photon background energy density through thermodynamic balance. The model begins with a primordial, perfectly smooth, rotating sphere containing all matter in the universe in a state of uniform spin and angular momentum. A minute asymmetry at the exact moment when this sphere transitions from orbiting to linear motion triggers an explosive event analogous to the Big Bang. The subsequent evolution of matter is driven by conserved spin, torque, and collisions, producing galaxies, stars, and planets without invoking gravity as a fundamental interaction. Photons are treated as massless, motionless carriers of residual energy, created by entropy and phase transitions, which remain fixed in space until absorbed by massive particles. The hypothesis extends to nuclear physics, proposing that strong and weak nuclear forces emerge from angular momentum coupling at subatomic scales with scale-dependent coupling constants, with quark confinement arising from topological constraints on angular momentum flux at the characteristic scale σ₀,quark = 5.4×10⁻²⁷ m²/s, yielding the observed string tension of 1 GeV/fm. The framework introduces the universal specific angular momentum σ₀ from which all gravitational phenomena emerge through the relation L = m·σ₀. A scale-dependent hierarchy spans from quark scales (σ₀,quark ~ 5×10⁻²⁷ m²/s) through nuclear scales (σ₀,nuclear ~ 10⁻⁷ m²/s) to planetary (σ₀,planetary ~ 8.2×10⁵ m²/s) and astrophysical scales (σ₀,macro ~ 10⁶ m²/s), unifying behavior across 40 orders of magnitude. The coupling potential U = -G·L₁·L₂/(σ₀²·r) automatically recovers Newtonian gravity U = -Gm₁m₂/r, with the derived equivalence principle emerging naturally from this formulation. The framework addresses the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass, derives tidal forces from angular momentum gradients, explains binary pulsar orbital decay through angular momentum radiation (matching observations to 0.2%), and provides interpretations of frame dragging consistent with Gravity Probe B measurements (through core-mantle density structure giving σ₀,eff = 0.82×σ₀,macro), gravitational lensing, and the Sachs-Wolfe effect consistent with the stationary photon model. Gravitational wave detection is reinterpreted through a velocity normalization mechanism: angular momentum density waves from distant astrophysical sources modulate the local photon field, causing Earth's velocity through this field to fluctuate as it normalizes to local equilibrium. LIGO measures these velocity fluctuations (δv ~ 10⁻¹³ m/s for typical events) as differential path length changes, with the strain-velocity correspondence δv = (c/2)×h providing a direct physical interpretation of the observed signals. The hypothesis claims that many cosmological phenomena--such as dark matter, dark energy, and redshift observations--may be reinterpreted as consequences of misattributing our own motion and mischaracterizing the behavior of light. The framework derives neutrino oscillations from angular momentum phase evolution, with flavor eigenstates (νₑ, νμ, ντ) representing distinct phase configurations (0, 2π/3, 4π/3) of the neutrino's angular momentum orientation relative to the photon field. Mass eigenstates emerge from differential coupling to the stationary photon field, reproducing the standard oscillation probability P = sin²(2θ)·sin²(1.27·Δm²·L/E). Primordial nucleosynthesis derives the helium mass fraction Y_p = 0.244 from a freeze-out temperature T_freeze = 8.6×10⁹ K determined by angular momentum coupling timescales. Bell inequality violations are derived quantitatively from spinor geometry, yielding the correlation function C(θ) = -cos(θ_A - θ_B) and CHSH parameter S = 2.61, exceeding the classical bound of 2. Quantum computing scalability limitations emerge naturally from the framework's entropy production requirements: maintaining N-qubit coherence requires angular momentum isolation scaling as N², predicting practical limits of ~30-100 qubits before decoherence dominates. The paper develops 22 specific, quantitative testable predictions, including: photon thermalization over τ ~ 5×10¹⁰ years with observable spectral broadening; a minimum black hole mass of ~2.4 M_Earth (range 0.8-8 M_Earth); helium mass fraction Y_p = 0.244 (matching observed 0.245±0.003); laboratory flywheel experiments with predicted signal-to-noise ratio of ~8400; gravitational wave memory velocity drift of ~0.5 μm/year cumulative baseline shift; velocity fluctuation background at S_v^(1/2) ~ 10⁻¹⁵ m/s/√Hz; and neutrino mass ordering predictions. Critical tests include photon field thermalization spectroscopy, black hole mass gap searches, enhanced CMB isotropy from primordial sphere thermal equilibration, gravitational wave velocity-direction correlations with source sky positions, and quantum computing coherence time scaling. These predictions, while challenging to standard physics, provide clear pathways for empirical validation or falsification of the framework.