Charged Particles are Preventing from Moving Faster than the Speed of Light by Light Itself

Many problems in classical mechanics are solved by assuming that friction is negligible. At velocities close to the speed of light, however, friction is never negligible as a consequence of the dilatant optical molasses that results from the temperature-dependent blackbody distribution of photons. A body moving at relativistic velocities experiences the blackbody radiation as being Doppler shifted. This adds a nonlinear velocity-dependent component of friction. By accounting for this thermodynamic friction, I have obtained an equation of motion that is applicable for modeling the movement of particles at relativistic velocities. While the predictions of the opto-mechanical model are qualitatively consistent with the predictions of the Theory of Special Relativity in terms of the nonlinear relationship between force and acceleration, there are quantitative and testable differences.