These are some of the physical constants of the universe, some of which are fundamental:
Gravitational constant, Planck constant, Planck length, speed of light, electron mass, proton mass, neutron mass, Boltzmann constant, Avogadro number, elementary charge, strong coupling constant, Bohr magneton, and the gas constant. Additionally, the six types of quarks are fundamental particles.
However, there are observable events where speeds appear to exceed the speed of light, such as the phase velocity of waves, Cherenkov radiation, and the recession of distant galaxies due to the increase of distance between galaxies driven by dark energy. These phenomena do not violate the constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum, which remains a fundamental constant and the ultimate speed limit for information and matter.
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These empirical observations indicate that distant galaxies are receding faster than the speed of light due to the antigravitational effect of dark energy. This phenomenon occurs at intergalactic or galactic cluster scales, in regions well beyond the gravitational influence of individual galaxies. In these areas, only cosmic redshift occurs, not gravitational redshift, due to the absence of significant gravitational influences.
Observational calculations of motion and gravitational effects on these galaxies are derived using classical mechanics, specifically Newton's laws of gravitation, rather than relativistic interpretations of gravity as curved spacetime. These calculations consider gravity as a force and ignore the concept of distorted spacetime. As a result, the empirical observations, calculations, and applications of classical mechanics confirm that the effective motions and gravitational-antigravitational interactions between celestial bodies are due to forces, as per the classical interpretation of gravity.
This approach establishes that the galaxies are influenced solely by gravitational-antigravitational effects as forces, without involving relativistic gravity as spacetime distortion. Reference: 'Dark energy and the structure of the Coma cluster of galaxies'.
In this context, three masses characterize the structure of a regular cluster: the matter mass Mᴍ, the dark-energy effective mass Mᴅᴇ (which is negative), and the gravitating mass Mɢ = Mᴍ + Mᴅᴇ. Cosmic antigravity can be stronger than gravity both globally and locally on scales of approximately 1–10 Mpc. The local weak-field dynamical effects of dark energy can be described using Newtonian mechanics. Gravity dominates at distances R < Rᴢɢ, while antigravity is stronger at R > Rᴢɢ. A gravitationally bound system with mass Mᴍ can exist only within its zero-gravity sphere of radius Rᴢɢ. The matter content (dark matter and baryons) of the cluster is characterized by the mass Mᴍ(R) inside radius R.
Studies of nearby systems like the Local Group and the Virgo and Fornax clusters suggest their sizes are close to their zero-gravity radii. Around them, galaxy flows are observed; these systems are in gravity-dominated regions (R < Rᴢɢ), and the outflows occur at (R > Rᴢɢ). If these local systems have nearly maximal sizes, this may explain the apparent underdensity of the local universe.
