The energy loss of photons and cosmological redshift*

The “tired light” hypothesis interprets the cosmological redshift on an assumption of energy loss of photons interacting with massive particles by some researchers. A new mechanistic model of “tired light” is proposed by establishing a differential equation through the analysis of a photon's energy loss based on the classical electromagnetic theory and principles of the mass‐energy equivalence and the wave‐particle duality. The photon transfers some energy to massive particles by Lorentz electric force in their interaction. The expanding result of the equation's solution is a formula for redshift, which shows a relationship of redshift to the wavelength of light and the number of massive particles that the photon encountered. The model agrees with the observational data in the cited literature by the relationship of redshift to wavelength of light. And, the relationship of redshift to the number of massive particles encountered by the photons explains the “limb effect” on the solar disc, the signal redshift of Pioneer 6, and the large redshifts of quasars, all of which cannot be explained by the Doppler effect. The new model provides a basis for the hypothesis of “tired light” to become a reasonable theory.