Paper V The Nature of Electromagnetic Waves and Light A Unified Theory of Spatial Transverse Waves

This is Paper V of the Planck Deformation Unit Space Theory (PDUST) series. It establishes a unified geometric model for electromagnetic waves and light based on the deformation unit framework. All electromagnetic radiation—radio waves, light, X-rays, and gamma rays—is shown to consist of transverse waves in the deformation unit lattice, formed by the coupling of the tangential component of radial twist and axial twist. The electric field corresponds to the tangential component of radial twist; the magnetic field corresponds to axial twist. Key contributions include: - Unified description of the entire electromagnetic spectrum as transverse waves in the deformation unit lattice - Precise excitation conditions: field translation (uniform motion, no radiation) vs. field deformation (acceleration/transition, radiation) - Photon defined as a complete transverse wave packet—indivisible with fixed energy - Unified interpretation of wave-particle duality: wave nature during propagation, particle nature during generation/detection - Geometric mechanism for the constancy of the speed of light: c = ℓ_p0 / t_p0 The theory is numerically fully compatible with special relativity while providing a different physical mechanism (lattice geometry vs. spacetime geometry).