On The Physical Interpretation of Mass and Spacetime: The Mass-Frequency Equivalence and the Emergence of Gravity from a Refractive Vacuum

This paper presents a critical re-examination of two foundational tenets of 20th-century physics: the axiom of a massless photon in the Standard Model (SM) and the geometric interpretation of gravity in General Relativity (GR). We argue that the empirical falsification of local realism invalidates the foundational ontology of General Relativity. Consequently, its predictive success must be re-evaluated not as proof of a geometric spacetime, but as a mathematical formalism whose physical interpretation is questionable—analogous to the predictive, yet flawed, epicycles of Ptolemaic astronomy. We begin by re-examining the nature of mass, deriving a fundamental identity between invariant mass and intrinsic frequency (in natural units) by equating the relativistic and quantum expressions for rest energy. This suggests that invariant mass is the physical manifestation of a localized oscillation at the Compton frequency, a concept supported by the Zitterbewegung predicted by the Dirac equation. This perspective challenges the SM’s axiom of a massless photon. Building on this process-based view of matter, we then develop a model of gravity from first principles, positing the quantum vacuum as a polarizable medium. We postulate a dimensionless coupling constant of 2 arising from the vacuum’s dual electromagnetic nature. By demonstrating that this model quantitatively reproduces the observed deflection of light, we reveal the Newtonian constant, to be an emergent, composite parameter of the vacuum, rather than a fundamental constant. This framework also provides a more direct physical explanation for gravitational time dilation, reinterpreting it as a medium-induced change in the intrinsic frequencies of atomic clocks. This suggests that gravity is a refractive phenomenon, rendering the geometric interpretation a powerful but potentially superfluous mathematical abstraction.