What is going on with EMR.

Michael  Anderson. Bsc (Chem Eng)Cape Town. AMP Harvard.

As an amateur physicist I make no claim to be a great mathematician or have access to enormous facilities, but I do have a long and consuming interest in particle Physics. I have studied this subject from many angles with an accent more on the “how” than the “what”. This study has led me to answer some of my own questions and some of those answers, I believe, are unique and revealing. In this paper I try to explain my thoughts and give you, the reader, I hope some serious food for thought and perhaps encouragement to use these ideas in some further research.

I began my journey of exploration when I tried to understand the “how” of Einstein’s famous E=mc² equation. It was clear to me that this meant that matter and energy are precisely the same thing, that no matter can exist unless it is structured out of particles of energy. As simple as this fact is, it is hard to accept but accept it we must. It means that energy and mass are two forms of the same thing. Taken another way, perhaps we should say of elementary particles that they are indivisible particles of energy which appear and act as matter with the property of mass.

To begin to understand the implications of this concept we need to begin with the simplest and purest form of energy, Electromagnetic Radiation or EMR.

 In 1850 Maxwell famously described EMR waves as oscillation of electric and magnetic fields.  Now  an electric field  is defined as “an electric property associated with each point in the space where a single or many charge/s is/are present” and an oscillation of that charge means the charge swings back and forth from positive to negative. We also know that magnetism exists only when a moving or changing charge is present. So the picture in all the textbooks show EMR as an single electric wave oscillating while at right angles to it is the magnetic wave swings polarity in phase with it.

However, there is a problem with EMR. We know from work by Einstein and others it has both “wave” and “particle” characteristics. The exact mechanism of the transmission of these waves is not fully understood but the evidence that they are “quantized” is irrefutable. The individual quanta do not appear to be linked to each other as many lab experiments with very low intensity radiation have demonstrated the reception of individual quanta of energy as have observations of distant astronomic objects arriving on occasions spaced apart by seconds or even longer. They have also shown irrefutably that those quanta of energy are of a unique magnitude linked specifically to the frequency of the wave with the energy growing larger as the frequency is higher.

That is what happens, my question is “how”.

The only variables affecting  energy in this picture are frequency and the electric field, and the only variable in the latter can be the density (or size) of charge in that field, so we have to conclude that it is that density which is the driver which causes the frequency to rise, and must also be the driver for increasing the energy. In other words, if the density (or size) of charge in the electric field density grows, the frequency grows and the energy grows.

Because we really don’t know what a “charge” is, it is not possible to determine the size or number of individual charges that make up the “density” of the electric field that oscillates, and we certainly don’t know how many charges of what size makes up the total charge of a single quantum. However, if we want to really understand what is going on we need to bring it all down to that individual quantum where it must mean that it is the oscillation of a single charge or small group of charges that equal the size of that charge and the resulting magnetic effects that oscillation must cause to sustain the quantum on its travels.

To further understand this question, lets look at the point we know that energy and matter are equivalent, the “creation” of an electron positron pair. In our natural world the simplest form of matter is an electron and it’s charge mate a positron. We know that these particles can also act as waves and indeed can experimentally be shown to be able to switch backwards and forwards between the two forms. High energy gamma waves under the right circumstances spark off an electron positron pair and if these entities recollide they disappear again and release gamma rays of equal total energy. This fact is a clear confirmation of the equivalence of the two forms of energy.

To look in some more detail at the process of conversion of high energy gamma rays into electron positron pair we find there is nothing new in this information, it is available from many sources. Gamma rays are high frequency high energy electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Clearly to produce a pair of particles, the energy of the gamma rays must be greater than the sum of the energies of the two particles. We know the rest energy of each of an electron and a positron is 0.511 MeV so the energy of the Gamma rays must be greater than 1.022 MeV from which we can deduce will have an frequency of greater than 2.47x10²⁰Hz. If such a ray were to pass close to a nucleus a pair of particles a positron and an electron are sparked off. If the two were to subsequently collide they would reverse the process and produce two identical gamma rays of total energy equal to 1.022 MeV confirming that the energy of the gamma ray has indeed been converted into these two particles of matter and converted back again into the originating gamma radiation, but of necessity, each half the energy and frequency.

In the previous paragraph I used the word Converted. Perhaps if we used the word Transformed it would make it more clear that the two particles are still quanta of energy, now in the form of matter with the property of mass. In EMR it is clearly energy, in Matter it still in energy in the form of matter. Taking this view, it makes nonsense of the controversy as to whether a photon has mass. The word “photon” is simply an easy way of describing a “quantum of EMR” and as such it is energy which is at the same time mass in alternative form.

It Is interesting to note that the transformation described above is always precisely into a positron and an electron, it is never either two positrons or two electrons or indeed any other elementary “particle”. The other interesting fact is that the two appear together not one after another. In fact, the conversion must be instantaneous, so if the quantum contained a multitude of charges that all swung back and forth in unison from positive to negative, then at the instant of conversion all the charges in the quantum must be one or the other and the production of both a particle with a positive charge and one with a negative charge would not be possible: it would have to be one or the other! This must mean that the positive side of the EMR wave must exist concurrently with the negative side meaning that EMR actually hac a poositive wave coexisting and in phase with a negative wave.

This new model allows the charges to be always in balance, an equal number of positive charges as there are negative charges. As stated earlier, we don’t know if the charge of a quantum of EMR is a single point charge or a group of lesser charges that total to the magnitude of charge required, but logic would suggest that it is probably the former. Consider sunlight for example, it is made up of radiation of all frequencies and energies from low energy infra red through visible light to the ultra violet range and beyond, and yet individual quanta applicable toeach and all those energies and frequencies coexist without interference. If the quanta were to be created by multiple charges as opposed to a single point charge, it would be impossible to separate one quantum from another in the stream. This strongly suggests that the actual mechanism is that each quantum of each individual frequency of the EMR is indeed a single matching pair of a positive and negative charge which remain linked. Indeed it may be that that is the reason for the quantization of EMR. Each point charge pair defines a quantum.

To further justify the model of a quantum of EMR, consider this. Imagine the bunch of charges in the quantum as a single pair of    positive and negative charges. As the quantum of energy passes a single point in space this pair emerges driven apart by the energy of the wave. Assuming they start off at a fixed velocity, they would be attracted back together by the attractive force of their positive and negative nature and clearly, the bigger those charges were the greater the attraction and the swifter they would again meet, causing the higher frequency.

 Exactly what happens in the process is still not at all clear but the net effect is that if the energy and frequency (and by deduction, charge) of a quantum of EMR is greater than the level of 1.022MeV then certain circumstances can cause the spinning off of the negative half of the electric field to form the electron while the spinning off of the positive half forms the positron.  

The conclusion I make from all this is that every EMR energy wave has three significant variables namely energy, frequency, and charge and these three variables are related and unique to each combination.

An equally important conclusion is that the relationship in the EMR “wave” which is related  to the spawned “particles” is the same, that is the energy, frequency and charge of the wave and particle from which it spawned are identical. If that unique relationship is not present in a particle, one must conclude that the particle is not elementary and must be a combination of particles that do meet that criteria, because, very simply, there is no way they can form unless they do.

In the case of EMR it is not easy to determine the exact value of the charge of a quantum but we have a secret weapon. It is the very same above described conversion of EMR into a electron pair because we do know the exact charge of an electron and the energy of that particle and by interpretation the frequency of the wave of which it is a part. We just need to understand how to use this information.

So, neither EMR nor an elementary particle can have any other property than frequency and charge which can affect its energy, and therefore it’s mass. In other words, if a wave has frequency omega, energy E, and charge q, then it can be described by the following expression: E is increased as the frequency increases because q increases. (Note There is some math here which Blogger did not reproduce so I had to take it out. Also the figures I prepared did not reproduce. I am trying to sort this out.) 

To determine the nature of those functions we go first the famous Feynman equation² which finds that the energy of an electron is given by a function which squares the charge.

In my own work I derived an expression of similar form but with different constants³, but it too related the energy E to the square of q. We also know that the relationship between E and omegaE is given by Planck’s equation⁴ as  E=h.frequency. 

The sequence of math leads to an expression which raiys that the raio of energies in EMR is equal to the ratios of the sqare roots of charge

Because of the equivalence of energy and mass, this expression is valid for EMR and for elementary particles of matter.

From this expression it is easy to see that the charge in a quantum is not doubled when the energy is twice as great, reinforcing the suggestion that the magnitude of charge is simply a manifestation of the total energy of the quantum and cannot be defined by addition of a number of smaller charges. Indeed, it suggests that charge itself is a property of a unique quantum of energy.

Another key conclusion this expression leads to is that it is impossible to differentiate between the energy related to a positive charge and that related to a negative charge, which while unsurprising in a mathematical context but may be critical in understanding the structure of matter. The energy and mass in a positron is in every way identical to the energy and mass in an electron albeit their opposite charges.

So a positron is not Anti-matter, it is simply matter transformed from the energy of a positive charge as an electron is matter transformed from the energy of a negative charge. And perhaps this is why we don’t know where all the anti-matter in the universe is, because it is hiding in common sight in all matter, and we cannot tell which is which. Perhaps we need to understand how negative charged matter particles can coexist with positive charged matter particles to find the answer, and perhaps the neutrino is that solution.

 

References

1. From the Big Bang to Quarks – Have we lost our way. Michael Anderon Vantage Press, 1996.

2. Feynman Lectures. https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/II_28.html

3. Planck’s law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_law 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The structure of atoms

Have you ever wondered while watching TV why, with all the free electrons flying about, they never collide with the myriads of nuclei that abound in our universe, even though they should be attracted strongly towards them. Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately, and this article describes the conclusions I have come to.

The puzzle begins with the Bohr atom. Here are all these electrons whizzing around the nucleus never losing energy, never flying off into space nor plunging toward the extremely attractive positive nucleus. Also in electrical currents there are a host of free electrons but all move passively around the outside of the atoms, never straying into the atomic depths close to the nucleus.

All of this suggests that there is a structure to the atom which belies the image of the tiny nucleus surrounded by free space in which the electrons swarm. But how can there be structure in this free space, after all it is just free space? Perhaps not!

In the work I did on the nature of the electron and proton I suggested that the proton itself was not a true elementary particle and was instead made up of nearly 1000 electron positron pairs (which I called a doublet. It is one of the forms of energy that is termed a neutrino) plus one extra positron. When that work was published I was not sure as to exactly how this structure became stable, but I have since concluded that the secret is that a proton is actually the primary nucleus, and what happens is what happens with all nuclei.

Let us go back a step. We have previously concluded that, at the quantum level, free space is a seething foam of dipole emergence events which events are, in the absence of any free charge, totally random. When a positive charge is introduced into this foam, the events in the foam become polarized with the negative poles being attracted to the charge and the positive poles being repelled. This action effectively distributes the charge over a new surface some specific quantum distance away. The process is repeated over this new surface to create a second surface a further quantum distance away, and so on producing a succession of onion like surfaces extending out to infinity. Elementary electrostatics will demonstrate that the total charge distributed around each of these surfaces is equal to the initial charge introduced, and most significantly, the sum of all charges below any one of these surfaces is zero.

Thus, in the case of a proton, the ~1000 doublets and a single positron nestle within the first surface, and because all the net charge of +e has been effectively transported to the outside of the surface, there is no resultant charge inside and hence no resultant divisive forces allowing the entity to be totally stable. Of course, the obvious question remains, “Why is only one precise size of proton permitted?” The only answer I have right now is that the same quantum forces which dictate there is only one size of electron and positron also dictates a unique size of proton.

So having described the hydrogen nucleus, we move on and assume that a deuterium nucleus forms similarly with two protons and one electron nestling together within a quantum surface, the net charge outside the surface being +e. Again, all charges have been transported to the outside surface of the onion skin, resulting again in there being a minimum of divisive forces within the nucleus itself. This structure is commonly viewed as a proton and a neutron, but the neutron cannot exist on its own because having no resultant charge it does not have a protective onion skin layer, and it soon decays into more stable component entities.

Now let us examine a hydrogen nucleus (proton) being approached by an electron. As the electron does so it moves through a series of onion skin layers, each with an increasing charge density. As it penetrates each positive surface it is repelled by the underlying negative surface and visa versa until it reaches a point where the combined attractive force of the upper positive layer and the repulsive force of the lower negative layer hold it in dynamic equilibrium. Once there it effectively neutralizes all charges to a distant observer, creating a hydrogen atom.

An identical process can be described for two electrons around a helium nucleus, and further to a lithium nucleus except that now some mechanism defines that only two electrons fill the first available onion skin layer, and the third occupies a new layer. The significant thing about this new layer is that the charge density is the same as it would be for a net single proton due to the canceling effect of the two helium level electrons.

The process described continues onward and upward through a neon layer of eight electrons, an argon layer of another eight electrons, and on to the krypton layer of eighteen electrons etc.

The KISS Theory of Everything - Part 4

The Quantum is the key - A Summary

Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the world of science trying to determine what it could be like if it were all a lot simpler. In setting out along this path it is always difficult to know where to start because in any theory of everything, clearly everything is intertwined. In the series we started with the structure of matter, but in this summary, I want to start where we ended last week with the fabric of space because this truly is the key to the whole picture.

When viewed on the smallest possible scale space is seen to have inconsistencies, which can be viewed as random dipole events. Each of these events borrows energy from the great sink, and returns it micro seconds later. As there are many such events, the pulsing of energy in and out of the sink cancels out and all that remains is this background shimmer or quantum foam. This is the fabric of space, and it is upon this that all things depend. A critical part of the structure of the fabric is the pulses of energy creating dipoles, pairs of positive and negative charges that briefly move apart, turn and collapse back together to annihilate each other. The charges emerge because of the energy, and the most basic law of physics is that energy causes charge, and charge cannot exist without energy, and they are related by a modified Planks constant by the universal relationship. This allows a definition of Charge as the tendency by which free space resists being deformed by Energy.

So if charge is related to frequency by the direct relationship e=kN, and energy of a photon is also related to frequency by the simple relationship E = hN where h is Planks constant, then, because we do have one known point of equivalence namely in the electron/positron pair, where E = 8.19X10^-14 joules, and e = 1.602 X10^-19 coulombs., so k which is he/E must be 1.96X10^-6.h, or k= 1.30X10^-39 coulomb seconds.

If one brings a static charge into the total randomness of empty space, all of a sudden the randomness is affected, and some radial alignment of the events takes place. This alignment has the effect of transmitting the charge outwards spreading it evenly over the surface of the surrounding sphere , and the extent of the alignment at any point a distance away from the charge therefore depends upon the strength of the charge and the inverse square of the distance it is away. Thus any other charge entering the vicinity will feel the effect of the first charge by feeling the alignment of the fabric of pace, and will therefore be subject to a force, the electrostatic force.

Instead of a static charge, a moving charge such as a collapsing electron releasing a quantum of energy will create or cause an alignment of a sufficient number of the random dipole events such that they together can absorb the total quantum released. As this/these events collapse, they too release the energy and cause a new event a short distance away. So the quantum of energy is carried along this series of events and we see a photon, or electro-magnetic radiation quantum moving to infinity or until it meets a receptor which can absorb the total quantum.

As we know, as the turbulence of the source of electro-magnetic radiation grows, so does the energy of the electro-magnetic radiation. The increased energy causes the magnitude of total charge of the transmitting events to grow, and coincidently increases the apparent frequency of the dipole vibration (each event becomes shorter and shorter, and occur closer and closer together.) Because of the greater charges, and increasing proximity of succeeding events, sooner or later something must give, and at a point they do, the two ends of the dipole, the two separate opposite charges can not meet to annihilate each other and they spin off into the real world as a positron and an electron.

The positron and electron cannot exist in proximity with each other, except in one special circumstance when they are aligned along their axis of rotation spinning in the same direction. Now the repulsive force of their magnetism precisely balances the attractive force of their charge, and they lie together in perfect balance effectively disappearing from view. They have formed a neutrino, or simply a doublet. But the neat thing is that they can also form greater and greater chains until at some precise number around 1900, they close the end of the chain and form a stable proton. Now it also happens that two or more protons together can add a further triplet to convert one of the protons into a neutron, and from there, anything is possible.

And the whole thing works because a quantum of energy cannot be passed unless the receptor accepts all and only all of the energy.

Could it be that simple? I believe it is! In the beginning all there was quantum foam, and in a way that is all there is now, it‘s just a little more organized. How long it stays that way may be up to us!!

Part 3 - Some further insights into energy and charge

In a previous paper, we showed that electro-magnetic radiation could be seen as a series of events which transported a quantum of energy from its origin to some receiver or observer located at another place. It was pointed out that the key issue that emerged from that model was that the energy quantum was being transported along a series of events which in themselves acted as vibrations, and would therefore appear to have wave properties. Thus the wave particle dichotomy of electro-magnetic radiation disappears. In this paper I want to look at one of those events in a little more detail and see if we can make some deductions about some other mysteries of physics which look a lot more complicated than they should be.

The model we developed transported a quantum of energy along a series of events in each of which a dipole was sprung from empty space under the driving force of the magnetic field from the immediately preceding event, reinforced by the fields from earlier ones (only a very small number would actually be of any marked influence.) We know that the quantum energy of electro-magnetic radiation increases with the apparent frequency, and we showed that the likely effect of that is that the magnitude of the charge would increase proportionately. We also showed that the initial velocity of the poles or charges would have to be the same irrespective of quantum energy in order for the time it took for them to move apart, stop, and reverse to again coalesce to be in accordance with the beam’s apparent frequency. We noted that the only actual motion was that of the poles or charges, and that motion was perpendicular to the direction of the beam.

When we look at this dipole event in a little more detail, the first thing that comes to mind is the question of how straight the paths of the charges will be. The first assumption is that they will shoot out perpendicular to the path of the electro-magnetic radiation beam, and come back right to the spot where they started. I’m sure that's what they would do in a perfect world, but in the real world that’s not quite possible because the event is taking place only a very short distance away from the preceding one. Just as in two parallel wires carrying current, there will be a force between these two sets of moving charges which will result in the path being nudged in the direction of the beam. So the charges actually will traverse a short parabola meeting again not exactly where they were spawned but a very short distance away in the direction of the beam. The effect of this is to make their collision not exactly perpendicular, but at a very slight angle, which will result in a very slightly reduced magnetic effect. The ultimate result is that the next event will have a very slightly reduced energy, or will have a lower frequency. Voila! we have red shift.

So what happened to the bit of energy that was not transferred. As we said the charges moved just a little bit down the path of the beam. this very small movement is in effect an origination event for a new photon, but one that starts out traveling at right angles to the source beam, and with a very low quantum energy. So each event is actually spawning two new events, the main path being the majority of the energy, but the second path at right angles to the first takes away a very small bite of energy from each event. With all the electro-magnetic radiation that shines around our universe all the time one would expect this low energy radiation to create quite a buzz, and it does! It is the cosmic background radiation discovered by Penzias and Wilson in 1965. Some of you will be wondering if this slow degradation of electro-magnetic radiation is at variance with the requirement that a full quantum of energy be absorbed, and the simple answer is that it is not. The full quantum released by the previous event is absorbed by the new event, but two not one quanta are released.

So here we are, we have explained two of the great mysteries of the cosmos, and we have never mentioned the expanding universe, or the big bang!

As great as that understanding is, there is more. As the quantum energy of an electro-magnetic radiation beam increases so the magnitude of the charges increase, and so the forces on the charges increase. The result is greater deviation from the vertical path. So the higher the energy of the beam, the greater will be the red shift. Also a very strange thing happens when you try to calculate the amount of deviation. As the quantum energy grows to a level approaching twice the energy equivalent of an electron mass, calculation shows that the charges start to have such a great velocity in the direction of the beam that the attraction of the opposing charge can never catch up. Yes, the charges approach the speed of light itself. So what the model predicts is that at that quantum energy the two charges will travel along parallel to each other and to the beam, and will not recombine. This can be interpreted in two ways, firstly that electro-magnetic radiation cannot propagate in the usual way with quantum energies this high, and perhaps electro-magnetic radiation of these energies is actually more akin to a kind of neutrino, two equal charges zipping through space being virtually undetectable by any observer. What is clear is that if such a photon were to be disturbed by passage close to a particle or barrier, the possibility that the charges could separate and spin off into the observable world is very high. Thus the creation of an electron positron pair.

So now we begin to see how everything hangs together, how energy is transported through space by vibrating dipoles and how these dipoles break apart to form particles with mass. At the heart of both these phenomena are charges. and it seems to me to be the most basic of issues. Whenever energy is present, so is charge, and spinning charges create the rest mass of the observable world.

So if charge is related to frequency by the direct relationship e=kN, and energy of a photon is also related to frequency by the simple relationship E = hN where h is Planks constant, then charge must be related to energy by e = kE/h. We do have one known point of equivalence namely in the electron, where we know it’s charge, and we can use the above relationship to deduce k.

If this all hangs together, we can finally put a face on charge itself. Charge is the tendency by which space resists being deformed by energy.

While discussing this most basic of phenomena, it is interesting to consider what effect the presence of a charge would have on the surrounding space. As we said in our discussion on electro-magnetic radiation, it is considered a certainty that small dipole like events occur in free space on a random basis. It seems likely that very small events occur quite frequently, and space can be visualized as a shimmer of these tiny random events, John Wheeler’s “quantum foam”. Because the events are small and random they cannot be observed, and have no effect on observers or objects in their vicinity, but they can be said to create a fabric of space.

Now what happens if one brings a charge into the picture. Instead of all these little events being random, all of a sudden there is a driving force to align them radially around the charge, which has the effect of transmitting the effect of the charge outwards. Any other charge some distance away will now find itself in a quantum foam that is no longer random, and will therefore feel a force towards or away from the first charge. And so we have electro-static force.

As in the case of electro magnetic radiation, nothing has actually traveled between the two charges, but they feel the effect of each other via the quantum foam, or the fabric of space whichever term you prefer to use.

Part 2 - What a Photon would be like if Physics wasn't so complicated.

I started this series of essays on what the world of science, and in particular, physics, would be like if it were not so complicated, with a look at the most elementary of physical entities, the electron and the positron. We described the entities as being like spinning point charges, either positive or negative, and with this very simple model we were able to visualize how all of the known properties of the particles could come about, and how just these two particles could form the basis of all matter.

In this discussion I want to extend that kind of thinking to the world of electro magnetic radiation (EMR) of which light is a small slice. The principal properties of electro-magnetic radiation are wave characteristics, quantum transportation of energy, polarization and the fact that it travels in a straight line, so any picture one may form of a photon must be able to demonstrate these properties.

Existing models of electro-magnetic radiation are either wave based or particle based, but all envisage the wave or particle traveling through space from the generator to the receiver. The wave model which has oscillating electro-magnetic fields is mathematically most successful, but it fails totally to explain the quantum nature of light. This is not all that surprising because it was developed before the quantum characteristics were known. The particle models cannot explain the interference patterns, particularly those which form with very low intensity beams. So let us begin at the beginning and try to do better.

We know that all radiant energy originates from vibrating atoms or parts of atoms, and we know that those parts of atoms are electrically charged. So the simplest case is an electron in a high energy state dropping to a lower energy state. This is a distinct event, and it releases a unique quantum of energy. If we think of that event as a charge falling rapidly from one spot to another, it can be seen as a very short lived micro electric current which will briefly cause a magnetic field to grow, and just as quickly to die away. If there were a conductor near that event, the magnetic field would cause an equally brief current to occur in that conductor first traveling one way as the magnetic field grew, and then reversing as the field died away. But empty space is not a conductor in the normal understanding of the word, so something else or some other event must happen to cause space to act like a conductor. As the originating event was discrete and contained a unique and definitive amount of energy, and we know that the quantum nature of the process allows the energy from the source event to be passed only to a receptor which absorbs all and only all of that energy, we should assume that the transmitting events must also be discrete.

So what kind of event may we be thinking about? In the strange world of quantum mechanics it has become an accepted fact that even in empty space, pairs of particles, one positive and one negative, can and often do randomly appear out of empty space, skipping apart briefly, only to be attracted back together to annihilate each other and disappear. These many random events have been variously described, but the term I like is “quantum foam“ used first by John Wheeler. If one were to visualize one of these events as a - charged entity moving upward and a + charge moving downward, what one would see is the two charges starting out at some high velocity, slowing down as the attractive force decelerated them, turning around towards each other and meeting again at the point they originated from, probably at very close to the velocity they started with, but obviously in the opposite direction. Effectively, the event is the appearance of a small dipole stretching apart, and then collapsing, and if one were an observer a few micro meters away, it would have appeared to be a very short lived micro current starting out in one direction reversing itself and then disappearing. Now that is exactly what we said would occur if a conductor were near our falling electron! So let us take a leap of faith and assume that this is actually what happens, and imagine our event as a small dipole, emerging, stretching apart, and collapsing back together again.

For the process to work, what we would see is the dipole appearing a short distance away from the falling electron. As the driving magnetic field stopped growing, the poles or charges would stop at which time they hold the total energy released by the electron. Because they are attracted to each other, the charges start to fall back towards each other till they again met and neutralize themselves. Now of course, these charges collapsing towards each other is in effect exactly the same as the electron event which began the whole thing, only it is occurring a short distance away, and a short time later. And also, of course it will cause another similar event to occur a further short distance away, and a further short time later, and will in the process transmit the energy to that new event. And so on, and so on.

What we have visualized is a process by which an effect of the event of a collapsing electron is propagated through space by successive dipole events. As the charges in the first event move apart they absorb the energy given up by the electron, and as they collapse back together, they pass that energy on to the succeeding event. In so doing the little burst of energy that the original electron gave up is transported along the chain of events and it will continue to be so until it meets a receptor, or observer, where it can be absorbed. The interesting thing about the model is that, other than the brief vibration of the dipole, nothing has actually moved except the energy has been transported along a chain of events. In truth what we have visualized is the passage of a photon, or a quantum of light, and we can better understand the wave particle dichotomy of electro-magnetic radiation. The concept is really not that far away from the Maxwell model, except that each and every quantum of energy is traveling as its own distinct series of wave like events made up of vibrating dipoles

In the above visualization we have used the single dipole as the event but it would be equally valid to suggest that the falling electron merely caused an alignment of a number of the random events of the quantum foam that were occurring in the vicinity such that the total energy of the aligned events was equal to the quantum energy. This extension to the model quite likely would be more accurate, but it adds complexity without benefit, and just as in the Bohr model of the atom the electrons have melted into electron clouds, it is still useful to revert to the original model to provide a visual and not too inaccurate understanding of what is happening.

Part 1 - If physics was not so complicated, what would matter be like?

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if theoretical physics was not so complicated? I have, and I really think that maybe it isn’t, and maybe we made it seem more complicated than it is.

One of the areas I think physics has gone a bit crazy is the structure of matter. Back in the 1920’s, when scientists first realized that atoms were not the smallest entities, electrons, protons and then neutrons were discovered, and we had a nice simple picture of what constituted our world. Then unfortunately, first in cosmic rays, and later in accelerators, we observed a plethora of what seemed like new particle entities. Most of these new particles existed for only fractions of a microsecond, decaying into electrons, positrons, and electro magnetic radiation, or EMR and neutrino‘s. The simple picture was destroyed.

By the 1970’s, there were so many particles described that one needed an encyclopedia to list them all, so it was not surprising that there was a new attempt at simplification. The standard model, and the word “symmetry” started to appear in everything one read. Since that time, more Nobel prizes have been awarded for contributions to the standard model than any other part of Physics. Still I find that none of this stuff is really satisfactory, and leaves open more questions than it provides answers.

So what could it be like if it really was all much simpler. As we said earlier, all of the known particles that decay yield only five things, protons, electrons, positrons, neutrino‘s and EMR, and even a proton can be destroyed to yield only the other four. There seems to be little doubt that the electron and positron are elementary particles, so let us examine what we know about these entities. We know the electron is very small, about 10-17 m, carries a charge of -e, has a definitive mass, and has a measurable magnetic moment. We also know that it is totally stable, with the only way it can disappear being when it meets its alter ego, the positron, which has all of the same characteristics except that its charge is +e.

The magnetic moment of the electron is vital in understanding what this entity may be like. Magnetism does not exist without a moving electric charge, and yet the electron has a magnetic property even when it is stationary, so the moving charge must be a part of the electron itself. Now it just so happens that if one were to take a point charge of -e and somehow make it spin in a tiny circle one would create an entity which has all the properties that we know an electron has, as spinning a charge of +e would create a positron. So lets take the leap of faith and suggest that these elementary particles are indeed just that, which would make them actually look like tiny donuts. Purists will say that such a structure, a charge spinning in its own magnetic field would have to radiate energy and slow down, but just as we had to do with electrons spinning around the Bohr atom, let us just say that for some reason we do not at this time understand, this is not so, and the charge can continue to spin forever.

Everybody knows that electrons and positrons cannot exist in close proximity because if they collide they disappear in a puff of EMR. Well that’s what everybody knows, but what if it were not so? The interesting thing is that if one puts the two side by side with the charges spinning in the same direction, say clockwise, their magnetic fields would be opposite, one up and one down. What could the situation be if in some circumstance the two entities somehow got to be one on top of the other, with their spins in the same direction? Now the attraction of the charges would be counteracted by the magnetic fields their circular motion creates, and one could imagine a case where this opposition was exact, and the two would just sit there next to each other, neither attracting nor repelling. It just so happens that if the charges are traveling at very close to the speed of light, in a circle around 10-17 meters, it can be calculated that this is exactly what would happen. It sounds incredible, but if it were so, as far as every observer more than a few microns away, the pair would be totally undetectable because their charges cancel each other, as do their magnetic moments. The pair would however still have a mass very close to twice the electron mass.

So what do we know that is totally undetectable most of the time and yet carries some mass. The neutrino of course! Is this perhaps one of the structures this tiny entity can have? (I say one of the structures, because as will be shown later there is another entity which could look and act like a neutrino.)

We can take this picture further. If a single positron and electron can pair up, why not more . Could not these neutrinos or doublets as I call them add a loose electron or positron to form a positive or negative triplet or join up head to tail to form a chain and create a myriad of other particles. A chain of 70 or so would be a muon, . And of course, to take the presumption to its natural final conclusion, perhaps when this chain has approximately 1900 members, it adds one final positron, links up to the beginning of the chain, and by some amazing quirk (should that be quark) of fate continues to exist not for a few micro seconds, but forever. A proton is born, which with its associated electron in a hydrogen atom is the primary constituent of our universe. And of course it is common knowledge that one can add an electron and some more mass probably a neutrino, and one has a neutron which is of course only stable when associated with at least one proton.

So all of matter is made up of positrons and electrons, in equal quantities! Electrons and positrons are simply spinning electrical charges, which means that all of matter is made of spinning electrical charges. The total charge is always zero, but the number of individual charges is proportional to the total mass present. What could be more simple, and does this mean that perhaps, after all, gravity can be an electro-static effect?

Is this scenario all fantasy? Is there evidence that supports the concept? I believe it is not, and there is. From the time of the discovery of the muon in cosmic ray debris, and in accelerator collisions, each of the ever increasing list of particles that have been discovered has either a single -e or +e charge, or no charge at all. Almost any mass between that of an electron and that of a proton has been reported, and when these short lived particles finally decay, only positrons, electrons and gamma rays (EMR) and neutrinos are ever left! Seems reasonable that if that is all that is ever left, it probably is all they were ever made of. It is also possible to show, by simple math that a charge of -e spinning in a circle with a diameter of about 10-16 m will generate a magnetic field just great enough to repel a charge of +e spinning in like manner in the same direction.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that the structure of matter is something far simpler than the current models describe is the fact that these simplest forms of matter, the electron positron pair, can and are routinely created out of EMR. If, as we will suggest later, EMR may actually be made up of vibrating dipoles, the creation process sounds like it could possibly be a such a vibrating dipole that broke apart either because it became too energetic, or was split by some extraneous force, and the two charges were able to spin off into the real world. Also we can and routinely do create and or change other particles by adding or subtracting electron, positrons and or neutrinos

I’m not trying to say that all of the particles of the standard model are bogus, nor that there aren’t perhaps something like gluons around somewhere, But I am convinced it’s all a lot simpler than those particle physicists would have us believe. But if it were, they wouldn’t get those billion dollar accelerator toys to play with, would they?