When Distance Becomes a Wave Count: A Thought Experiment on Space, Time, and Phase
🌌 When Distance Becomes a Wave Count: A Thought Experiment on Space, Time, and Phase 1. Introduction Every physical theory starts with a few things taken for granted. One of the deepest assumptions in physics is the notion of distance — the idea that points in space can be separated by measurable lengths. But what if distance itself were not fundamental? What if it emerged from something deeper — something wave-based and relational? This idea came out of an exchange I had with ChatGPT-5, where I asked: What happens if you replace the notion of distance with the number of Compton wavelengths between an observer and an object — measured using the Compton wavelength of the observer? That single substitution leads to an interesting new way to think about spacetime . 2. The Setup: Measuring Distance by Compton Waves The Compton wavelength of a particle, is a fundamental length scale associated with its mass. It’s the wavelength of a photon whose energy equals the particle’s...