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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 11, No. 3
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/aivp.113.14846.
Gremaud, G. (2023). The Crystalline Ether. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(3). 383-397.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
The Crystalline Ether
Gérard Gremaud
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes how a new approach to the Universe based on the existence
of a "crystalline ether", which has recently been detailed in the third versions of two
books [1], makes it possible to find a simple, unified and coherent explanation of all
the theories of modern physics and of the Universe. The basic concepts of this
approach can be summarized as follows: (i) the support of the Universe is a form of
"crystalline ether" which consists of a solid and inertial lattice, of face-centered
cubic structure, with the simplest possible elasticity, and in which matter is
represented by the set of topological singularities of this lattice (loops of
dislocations, disinclinations and dispirations), and (ii) this lattice exclusively
satisfies, in absolute space, the basic classical physical concepts that are Newton's
law and the two principles of thermodynamics. With these basic classical concepts
alone, we show that it is possible to find all the modern theories of physics, namely
that the behaviors of this lattice (the Universe) and its topological singularities (the
Matter) satisfy electromagnetism, special relativity, general relativity, gravitation,
quantum physics, cosmology and even the standard model of elementary particles.
Keywords: Crystalline Ether, Massive Deformable 3D-Lattice, Dislocation, Disclination,
Electromagnetism, Relativity, Gravitation, Quantum Physics, Cosmology, Standard Model
of Particles, Theory of Everything.
THE QUEST FOR A THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Modern theories of physics are based on mathematical relationships postulated to explain
observed phenomena, and not on an inference of these mathematical relationships from an
understandable first principle. Electromagnetism is based on Maxwell's equations, without
simple explanations of what electric and magnetic fields really are, what electric charge is, and
how electromagnetic waves can propagate in a vacuum. Special relativity is based on Lorentz
transformations, without any explanation of the root causes why time expands and lengths
contract when an object moves at high speed, or in relation to what the object is moving.
General relativity is based on Einstein's famous equation that relates the curvature of space- time to the mass and energy of matter in space, without any real explanation of why matter
"curves" space-time, and even what space-time is exactly. Quantum physics is based on
Schrödinger's equation, without any explanation of the deep reason for this relationship, what
the wave function really is, and what defines the boundary between a classical and a quantum
behavior of an object (quantum decoherence). Cosmology is based on general relativity, and it
tries to describe the observed behaviors of the universe by injecting concepts, such as dark
matter and dark energy, which have no underlying physical explanation for the moment, and
which are introduced arbitrarily to make the theory fit the experiment. The Standard Model of
Elementary Particles is constructed from numerous experimental observations, but without
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Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom 384
European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 11, Issue 3, June-2023
any explanation of what an elementary particle really is, why it has mass and electric charge,
what its spin really is, what differentiates leptons and quarks, why there are three families of
leptons and quarks, what weak and strong forces really are, and what explains the confinement
and asymptotic behavior of the strong force.
In addition, these various theories do not have a common origin, and it seems very difficult, if
not impossible, to unify them. The search for a theory of everything capable of explaining the
nature of space-time, what matter is and how matter interacts, is in fact one of the fundamental
problems of modern physics.
Since the 19th century, physicists have sought to develop unified field theories, which should
consist of a coherent theoretical framework capable of taking into account the different
fundamental forces of nature. Recent attempts to search for a unified theory include the
following: the "Great Unification" which brings together the electromagnetic force, the weak
interaction force and the strong interaction force, the "Quantum Gravity" and the «Looped
Quantum Gravitation» which seek to describe the quantum properties of gravity, the
"Supersymmetry" which proposes an extension of space-time symmetry linking the two classes
of elementary particles, bosons and fermions, the "String and Superstring Theories", which are
theoretical structures integrating gravity, in which point particles are replaced by one- dimensional strings whose quantum states describe all types of observed elementary particles,
and finally the "M-Theory", which is supposed to unify five different versions of string theories,
with the surprising property that extra-dimensions are necessary to ensure its coherence.
However, none of these approaches is currently able to consistently explain at the same time
electromagnetism, relativity, gravitation, quantum physics and observed elementary particles.
Many physicists believe that the 11-dimensional M-Theory is the Theory of Everything.
However, there is no broad consensus on this and there is currently no candidate theory able
to calculate known experimental quantities such as for example the mass of the particles.
Particle physicists hope that future results from current experiments - the search for new
particles in large accelerators and the search for dark matter - will still be needed to define a
Theory of Everything.
But this research seems to have really stagnated for about 40 years. Since the 1980s, thousands
of theoretical physicists have published thousands of generally accepted scientific papers in
peer-reviewed journals, even though these papers have contributed absolutely nothing new to
the explanation of the Universe and solve none of the current mysteries of physics. An
enormous amount of energy has been put into developing these theories, in a race to publish
increasingly esoteric articles, in search of a form of "mathematical beauty" that is ever more
distant from the "physical reality" of our world. Moreover, enormous sums have been invested
in this research, to the detriment of fundamental research in other areas of physics, in the form
of the construction of ever more complex and expensive machines. And, to the great despair of
experimental physicists, the results obtained have brought practically nothing new to high
energy physics, contrary to the "visionary" and optimistic predictions of the theorists.
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Gremaud, G. (2023). The Crystalline Ether. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(3). 383-397.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.113.14846.
Many physicists now have serious doubts about the relevance of these theories of unification.
On this subject, I strongly advise readers to consult, among others, the books by Unzicker and
Jones [2], Smolin [3], Woit [4] and Hossenfelder [5].
WHAT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS A LATTICE?
In the approach we will present in this paper [1,6], the problem of the unification of physical
theories is treated in a radically different way. Instead of trying to build a unified theory by
tinkering with an assemblage of existing theories, making them more and more complex and
esoteric, even adding strange symmetries and extra dimensions for their "mathematical
beauty», we start exclusively from the most fundamental classical concepts of physics, which
are Newton's equation and the first two principles of thermodynamics. And using these
fundamental principles, and developing an original geometry based on Euler coordinates to
describe the topology of the Universe, we come, by a purely logical and deductive path, to
suggest that the Universe could be a finite, elastic and massive solid, a "cosmological lattice",
which would move and deform in an infinite absolute vacuum. In this a priori strange concept,
one thus admits the existence of a "crystalline ether", namely an ether made up of a lattice of
face-centered cubic crystalline structure, whose basic cells have a mass of inertia which
satisfies the Newtonian dynamics in the absolute space, and whose isotropic elasticity is
controlled by the existence of an internal energy of deformation as simple as possible.
By introducing into infinite absolute space a purely imaginary observer called the Great
Observer GO, and by equipping this observer with a reference system composed of an
orthonormal absolute Euclidean reference frame to locate the points of the solid lattice and an
absolute clock to measure the temporal evolution of the solid lattice in absolute space, a very
detailed description of the spatio-temporal evolution of the lattice can be elaborated on the
basis of the Euler coordinate system [7]. In this coordinate system of the Great Observer GO,
one can then describe in a very detailed way the distortions (rotation and deformation) and the
contortions (bending and torsion) of the lattice. And one can also introduce topological
singularities (dislocations, disclinations and dispirations) in this lattice in the form of closed
loops [8], as constitutive elements of Ordinary Matter.
If this original concept is developed in detail using an approach similar to the one used in solid
state physics, it can be demonstrated by a purely logical and deductive mathematical path that
the behaviors of this lattice and its topological singularities satisfy "all" the physics currently
known, by spontaneously bringing out very strong and often perfect analogies with all the
current major physical theories of the macrocosm and the microcosm, such as the Maxwell
equations [9], special relativity, Newtonian gravitation, general relativity, modern cosmology
and quantum physics.
But this approach does not only find analogies with other theories of physics, it also offers
original, new and simple explanations to many physical phenomena that are still quite obscure
and poorly understood at present by modern physics, such as the deep meaning and physical
interpretation of cosmological expansion, electromagnetism, special relativity, general
relativity, quantum physics and particle spin. It also offers new and simple explanations of
quantum decoherence (the boundary between classical and quantum behavior of an object),
dark energy, dark matter, black holes, and many other phenomena.