Luke Paireepinart wrote:
I don't pretend to understand the implications of this discussion, but it sounds to me like, at the speed of light, frequency is analogous to mass at lower speeds?
Not really. The relationship between momentum and wavelength applies at all speeds, and to all particles, both massive and massless. Electrons have a wavelength too, related to their momentum in the same way as photons. Fast-moving electrons have a short wavelength, slow-moving ones have a long wavelength. Pass them through a diffraction grating and you get interference patterns. Sounds weird, but it really happens. In quantum mechanics, there's really very little difference between massive and massless particles. Also, the word "particle" doesn't exactly mean what it sounds like it means. Rather than a little ball, it's more like a mode of vibration in a string or a drumhead. As a vibration, it has a frequency, and there is energy associated with that vibration. The higher the frequency, the greater the energy. (Like all things in quantum mechanics, you shouldn't push that analogy too far. But the mathematics involved are very reminiscent of what you get from dealing with waves in a vibrating medium.) -- Greg