THE FIFTH QUESTION
What is a Neutrino?
Copyright © 1998 Harold Aspden
I shall introduce this section of my Web pages by reproducing the
text of a paper I drafted some time ago with a view to publication by a
scientific periodical. The editor of that periodical declined to publish this
but encouraged its revision, asking me to acknowledge some prior work that was
unknown to me and was of record in the German language but which, enquiry
indicated, would be difficult to trace to establish availability. The claim
was that someone else had already suggested that the neutrino was a
manifestation of an aether property and I was trying to claim that idea as my
own. Well, much of what I present in these Web pages is my own brainchild and
all I can say is that I am only too happy to hear that I have been anticipated
on some of my researches by others. Indeed, it endorses one's efforts to know
of related prior work and should help to secure acceptance by the scientific
community generally. Science historians will then put the record straight as
to who invented what. So I shall first present the paper I wrote and I expect
I will follow that with an onward discussion as I add more pages to this
website. If some reader is kind enough to compare what I say with what they
might know concerning prior work then I will be glad to receive feedback and
will report that in these Web pages. The only amendments I have made in
presenting the paper are those providing links to other sections of these Web
pages plus a noted revision concerning the references to Tifft's discovery
concerning galactic redshifts.
THE ILLUSORY NATURE OF THE NEUTRINO
Harold Aspden
Energy Science Limited
c/o P.O. Box 35, Southampton SO16 7RB, England
Abstract
It is shown that a vacuum medium in which lepton
pairs are created from energy quanta may well contain, hidden in its zero-point
energy background, a system of neutral particle forms which are constituted by
the closely paired association of a virtual lepton system. The concept of the
neutrino may then be an illusory effect arising from energy conditions which
separate the components of those neutral entities. A major advance of this paper
is the linking of the author's earlier work, as reported in the Hadronic
Journal, with the energy quantum threshold implicit in the determination of the
fine-structure constant. The galactic red shift observations by Tifft (1977) are
shown to confirm the theory for the fine-structure constant. See Tutorial
Note No. 10 and Lecture
No. 6 in these Web pages. Also, for a full reference to the author's
collected papers as they appeared in the Hadronic Journal take note of the
current availability of the author's 1996 book 'Aether Science Papers'.
See Books and Reports by Dr.
Harold Aspden.
Preliminary Introduction
This paper has been written as a
result of the author meeting R. M. Santilli (Editor in Chief, Hadronic Journal)
on two occasions, firstly in Denver, Colorado at a conference on the New Energy
theme and secondly in London, England at a conference on the interpretation of
the theory of relativity. Dr. Santilli wondered why there had been no follow-on
based on my papers [1-8] published in Hadronic Journal in the period 1986-1989
and urged the author on both occasions to address the question of the
neutrino.
The reason for that lack of follow-on, in simple terms, is
that, it having become evident to the author that to prove the need for an
aether, as the canvas on which we should paint the true picture of physics, we
need a breakthrough discovery by which we are able to tap into the energy source
that pervades the aether. The author has been diverted to explore and search for
that breakthrough.
As part of that experimental research a phenomenon has
been encountered by which energy in the form of heat is converted into
electricity in a way which appears to defy the second law of thermodynamics.
[See Solid-State
Thermoelectric Refrigeration in these Web pages.] Applied in its ultimate
form, as now foreseen, it will involve assembling a laminated structure of
nickel film interleaved with layers of an insulating medium which is
superconductive. Now that might seem to be a contradiction in terms, but it is
not. Applied science is now revealing to us the existence of polymer films which
are heat insulating in the plane of the film but which have superconducting
filamentary paths transversely through the film. Such a material, said to
exhibit room temperature superconductivity, has been discovered by Grigorov, as
reported in a recent article entitled: 'The Goldsmid-Grigorov Accomplishment: A
Major breakthrough in Thermoelectrics' at pp. 67-69 in the the No. 10, 1996
issue of the periodical 'Infinite Energy' [9]. [See Infinite Energy to access the website
giving information concerning that periodical.]
This subject is mentioned
here because it is connected with the fundamental physics addressed in this
paper. The connection involves electron-positron chains. The author introduced
these in his 1969 book [10] as links between individual nucleons in an
aether-coupled structured distribution of the atomic nucleus which applies to
atomic nuclei of mass number from tritium-3 onwards. Recently, in relation to
the cold fusion theme, the electron-positron chain theme was used to explain the
lifetime, the magnetic moment and, indeed, the mass of the tritium nucleus [11].
[This is the subject addressed at pp. 41-44 of the author's Energy Science
Report No. 5 'Power from Water: Cold Fusion'. See Books and Reports by Dr. Harold
Aspden. As to the electron-positron chain theme, although the 1969 book
'Physics without Einstein is now out-of-print, a relevant description
contained in a 1974 work is to be found in these Web pages as Energy Science
Essay No. 15 under the title of 'The
Chain Structure of the Atomic Nucleus'].
It was a feature of the
author's theory that the aether comprises a degenerate form of electrical
charges, each seated at a lattice site in a cubic structure and set in a uniform
background continuum of charge of opposite polarity. The ratio of the unit cell
volume to the lattice charge volume was found to be 5059, which made 1 in 5059
the chance of a 'hit' by a sporadic virtual muon involved in an ongoing pair
creation and annihilation process creation targetted on the lattice charge. In
contrast, the electron charge occupies a volume that is 1/1843 that of the
lattice charge. As shown in [11], the theory for the triton lifetime requires 8
virtual muons to converge on a lattice charge which has a crucial position in
the tritium nucleus. But those muons must have the right combination of charge
polarities and the odds favouring decay increase by a factor of 9, because there
are 9 chances in the 256 different ways in which 8 pairs of two virtual muons of
opposite charge polarity can satisfy the decay condition.
Without going
into further detail, it is simply noted that the triton lifetime is formulated
as:
(5059)8/9(1.235x1020) secondswhich is 12.2 years,
exactly the mean lifetime found experimentally! Here we have used the Compton
electron frequency, 1.235x1020 Hz, as the rhythmic time cycle rate of
the aether activity. I do, however, quote the following from pages 38-41 of
[11]:
'The triton does, in fact, comprise two protons plus one
antiproton .... The triton, therefore, has to have a nuclear beta particle
chain able to bridge two lattice sites and it probably has two protons in
close proximity that straddle the lattice charge of one site whereas the
antiproton nucleon constituent is seated at the other lattice charge
site.'
The decay corresponding to that lifetime of 12.2 years is
based on a combined virtual muon 'attack' on that straddled lattice charge.
These comments serve as giving background support to the charged lepton chain
theme.
Now, the structure and properties of the proton, deuteron and
neutron had all been explained in Hadronic Journal papers [1, 7]. However, the
'cold fusion' report just referenced included also the theoretical
justification, based on the Hadronic Journal background, justifying the observed
abundance ratio as between protons and deuterons as present in normal
water.
As to electron-positron chains it is topical to note that T.
Jacobsen in a very recent issue of European Physics Journal has discussed how an
insulator can be superconducting [12]. He explains how 'electric charge may be
transported through the insulator not by conduction electrons but by a chain
reaction of successive electron-positron annihilations not hindered by ohmic
resistance'.
In the following discussion of the neutrino, the concept of
electron-positron chains will be seen to play an important role. In this
connection an electron-positron chain can be visualized as an in-line linkage of
alternate electrons and positrons as if they were beads threaded on a string.
They are held together by mutual electrostatic attraction of adjacent charges
and the string does not collapse owing to the special properties of the aether
which requires each charge to be at rest in the electromagnetic frame of
reference. In a sense one could say that the string-bead analogy applies as if
the strings link adjacent sites in a cubic-structured aether and the groups of
beads can slide along the string from site to site. In reality, however, the
ongoing vacuum activity of mutual pair annihilation and recreation serves to
relocate these charges when there is such migration. The centre of each charge
must not, therefore, have relative motion with respect to the reference frame of
its neighbours in a conglomerate system, as that would polarize the charge group
and involve non-minimal energy states, given that the electromagnetic reference
frame is itself in a state of jitter in the inertial frame.
In the
following description we will use symbols such as oo and oooo to indicate an
electron-positron pair coupled as a neutral entity, the smallest string length,
and a short electron-positron-electron-positron chain, respectively.
We
will rely on analysis presented in reference [1] for the reader to understand
why the oo combination has an energy of 1.25 electron mass units and the oooo
combination has an energy of 2.25 mass units. It will then be evident that we
can have neutral electron-positron chains which can be ruptured from the oooo
state to become oo plus o plus o, meaning that a free electron and a free
positron have been 'created'. The energy involved in this rupture is 2.25 minus
1.25 or one single electron rest-mass unit, yet an electron and a positron have
been released from a neutral field background.
[Since these numerical
terms are of the utmost importance to this Web presentation, the relevant
physical analysis has been entered as a separate item in these Web pages. See Electron-Positron
Chaining.]
By applying the principles disclosed in that same
reference [1] the reader can verify that a six charge electron-positron chain
oooooo has an energy of 3.225 electron rest-mass units. These three numerical
quantities, 1.25, 2.25 and 3.225, will be used as we proceed to explain the
physical nature of the neutrino.
From this preliminary introduction, the
reader should therefore now see the gist of the author's case as we proceed in a
more formal way.
Main Introduction
The author's earlier papers in Hadronic
Journal [1-8] show that it is possible to decipher much of what Nature discloses
to us by packaging energy in the various species of fundamental particles.
However, in this quest, which has preoccupied the author now for more than 30
years, there are two phenomena which seem not to fit into the author's
interpretation of the physical pattern. These are high energy gamma radiation at
frequencies exceeding the Compton electron frequency and the so-called neutrino,
if seen as a particle having a finite but extremely small
mass.
[Concerning gamma rays having frequencies exceeding the Compton
electron frequency, I tend not to believe in that hypothesis. Has anyone ever
measured such a frequency directly, as opposed to inferring it by unwarranted
assumption based on an extrapolation of Planck's radiation formula to a realm
outide its empirical bounds?]
[Concerning neutrino mass, that too seems
to me to be an imaginary notion and my thoughts on that are not qualified, but
rather reinforced, by the recent discoveries claimed from tests at a site in
Japan. See Neutrino
Mass.]
Charged particles offer clues as to their form, by virtue of
their response in a magnetic field which evidences their magnetic moments as
well as their mass and lifetime properties. Even the neutron reveals its inner
structure by showing us a magnetic moment and the fascinating feature of that
quantity is that, measured in nuclear magnetons, it is -1.91304308(54), precise
to 0.28 parts per million. Why, you wonder, is this so fascinating? The reason
is that -g(22/23), where g, the gyromagnetic ratio is 2, is -1.9130435, that is,
it agrees with experimental observation to a part or so in ten million. It means
that the neutron is separated from one of its positive beta particles for one
part in 23 of the time. The reason for this is explained in ref.
[1].
When we try to probe the mysteries of the neutrino there are,
however, no such clues to help us. One then wonders if the neutrino is a figment
of imagination invented in order to make the books balance on the momentum score
board!
As to the high energy gamma radiation, here again, one wonders
whether there really is something having a characteristic very high frequency
and corresponding to an extrapolation of the properties of the photon or whether
this is another case where imagination has gone just a little too far. Perhaps
here also we have simply a situation where momentum and energy imbalance imply a
phenomenon which has no relationship whatsoever to gamma radiation of the kind
seen in the 100 keV region. The ultimate threshold could well be at 511 keV,
where the frequency reaches the cut-off value set by the rest-mass energy of the
electron.
Accordingly, there is some purpose in asking whether ultra-high
energy gamma radiation and neutrinos describe the same phenomenon and whether
that phenomenon can best be described by another name. By this one could infer
the existence of something that can absorb energy and momentum and release that
energy and momentum elsewhere but in a form duly packaged which somehow has the
signature of specific threshold energy conditions of the emitting
source.
The task at hand, therefore, is to follow an intuitive line of
reasoning and suppose that we have been ignoring something of a universal nature
that intermediates in exchanging momentum and energy with matter, by which one
infers an aether. Expressed in simple terms, can it be that our references to
neutrinos and those high energy gamma rays are really nothing other than
references to energy transactions involving the aether?
Now before
developing this theme by examining how we have come to accept that neutrinos are
real particles which can penetrate matter as if unobstructed (a traditional
property of the aether), it will help to review the situation posed by the
photon.
The Photon
It is often asked whether the photon is a particle
or a wave. This author answered that by deriving the physical relationship
between the energy quantum locked into a photon and the frequency of that
photon. This involved deciphering the code hidden in the numerical value of the
fine-structure constant, it being a dimensionless physical quantity combining
three quantities having physical dimensions. These are (i) Planck's constant h,
which has the dimensions of angular momentum, (ii) the unitary charge e, the
magnitude of which is common to both proton and electron and seemingly all
fundamental charged particles and (iii) the speed of light c. The latter
quantity is a property of the expanse of space in which we know there can be
resonance at photon energy levels sufficient to generate an electron-positron
pair. Therefore space is filled with something that can resonate to shed
electrons and positrons created as if from nowhere but only if the photon energy
input is of adequate strength.
Clearly, therefore, the fine-structure
constant is the vital clue to understanding what is out there filling space and,
by deciphering its numerical code, which is now measured to part in ten million
precision, we can at least discover something about the nature of the
photon.
Before commenting further on that theme there is also an
important point to consider concerning those high-energy gamma rays. Evidently
we should need the energy of two photons at the Compton electron frequency,
namely twice 511 keV to create an electron-positron pair, but does that really
mean that we need one gamma ray of energy 1.022 MeV, as is often assumed? There
is something physically unsatisfactory about expecting two particles, as
individual photons, to come together in collision to combine to set up that
energy resonance at 1.022 MeV. The true nature of the photon mechanism has to be
our guide to the territory we are investigating. It is an 'event' in which
energy and momentum are transferred between aether and matter with an additional
association with a frequency characteristic attributable to aether wave
propagation.
[My account of the photon, backed by a theoretical
derivation of the value of the fine-structure constant with part per million
precision is to be found in these Web pages in Tutorial
Note No. 8 and, concerning whether photons really transport energy across
vast distances in space rather than setting up wave ripples in an existing sea
of energy, refer to the experimental data of An
Antenna with Anomalous Radiation Properties.]
Digressing now, for a
moment, let us ask a question which seems never to be raised in physics, namely
what is it that determines whether a charge has positive polarity or negative
polarity? There is one and only one answer that appeals to the author. This is
that all focal points of electric charge participate in an oscillation at the
Compton electron frequency. Not only does this endow the field medium with that
threshold photon frequency set by the electron or positron rest-mass energy but
it constrains the scope for interpreting effects assigned to the muon and taon
neutrinos.
If all charge is locked into a universal oscillation rhythm
and set in either of two phases that are 180o apart then all positive
charge will oscillate in one phase and all negative charge will oscillate in
antiphase with the positive charge. The oscillation is seen as being a radial
oscillation referenced on the charge centre, with charge volume of a particle
and its anti-particle conserved as if they are situated in an incompressible
enveloping medium. It is true that this implies instantaneous
action-at-a-distance in the Coulomb gauge we use here, but remember that
retardation and speed-of-light propagation are phenomena we associate with
electromagnetic energy transfer, rather than electrostatic action
[6].
This model can be developed in many ways. For example, ignoring the
oscillation, and prescribing that charge parity, energy and space volume of
three charges forming a group are all conserved, one finds that the Thomson
charge model used in references [2, 8] involves a self-stabilizing system.
Including the oscillation condition then directs consideration to a four-charge
grouping.
The author's paper [1] gives the essential clue for
understanding how an electron-positron pair can be created from the input of a
single 511 keV energy quantum.
The Electron Neutrino
In referring to the paper just referenced
and with the neutrino question in mind it seems that we might solve the neutrino
problem with very little difficulty.
As already indicated in the
Preliminary Introduction it was suggested that the rest-mass energy of a single
electron would suffice to split the oooo neutral electron-positron chain into
three components, a neutral oo pair, an isolated electron and an isolated
positron. This is pair creation, ostensibly, from a 511 keV energy
input.
In neutrino terms the conventional scenario is one which describes
the action as involving a `ghost particle' (See Professor Sir Harrie Massey's
book 'The New Age in Physics', and the section commencing at p. 262 on
'The Neutrino as a Ghost Particle' [13]. However, in the standard literature the
neutrino is presented as a mystery particle more in connection with the heavy
electron, the muon, than with the normal electron, even though the physics is
much the same for both.
With regard to the electron neutrino, this
appears in Massey's account (page 254) as an item in the following equation:
1H3 ~ 2He3 + e- +
no ........ (1)The symbol no represents the
neutrino, but in this situation it amounts to a mere declaration that the
energies of the source particle and the two products do not balance and so what
has gone missing must be a 'neutrino'. As Massey explains, in referring to
Pauli's neutrino hypthesis, we need "to suppose, boldly, that in beta decay a
second particle is emitted together with an electron (and in muon decay, two
such particles)."
The point here is that the tritium nucleus sheds very
little extra energy when it converts into a helium 3 nucleus and an electron,
whereas the muon sheds almost all of its energy in decaying into an electron or
positron and, in the absence of something to absorb the impact of this decay, it
needs two additional component products to balance both energy and momentum.
This is owing to the fact that the electron or positron produced can have
different energies and momentum according to the way chance governs the decay.
Why then, however, do we not see the need for two neutrinos in the tritium
decay? The reason presumably is that there are already two particles involved
and so, mathematically, one can generate the necessary number of equations to
keep energy and momentum in balance. But in deciding in this way whether one or
two neutrinos are created are we not merely playing with our mathematics and
forcing an interpretation to suit our assumptions? Why cannot we just suppose
that the aether can absorb any balance of momentum and energy and share that
overall with all the other particle events that occur everywhere in
space?
Surely, concerning the muon, its decay is not self-motivated but
involves, instead, a kind of impact by an external agency which does its work to
rupture the muon and, after reducing it to an electron, sheds the rest of the
energy into an external sink that absorbs it. Here we see the aether playing a
role as both an emitter and an absorber.
Now, the neutrino that is
supposedly generated by equation (1) is of such small energy that it can hardly
be regarded as a real particle. In contrast, the combined energy of the two
neutrinos shed by the muon decay is very nearly the whole energy of the muon
itself. However, why should we then divide that energy into two neutrino forms?
It is submitted that the likely scenario is that something which this author
declares to be a virtual muon impacts the real muon and the result is a collapse
into an electron or positron with the energy of very nearly two muons being
deployed into the aether.
The author has referred in [2] to a P:Q system,
which features in his theory of proton creation. The Q component is what the
author terms a dimuon and the analysis in that paper explains that a Q:(mu)
system has the same mass-energy as Q alone, but Q is charged and Q:(mu) is
neutral. The energy of (mu), namely half of Q, can therefore be absorbed to
separate (mu) from Q:(mu) whilst still conserving charge parity. Similarly if we
revert to the theme of the Preliminary Introduction and take the oooo symbols as
applying to short chains of positive and negative muons, rather than electrons,
then the transition:
oooo ~ oo + o- + o+ ......... (2)would
mean that a single unit of muon rest-mass energy has been absorbed with charge
parity conserved. In other words, if the background field includes neutral
objects oooo and we witness an event in which a muon decays to shed virtually
all of its energy then that can be explained. One simply needs to see the
resulting field background as comprising neutral entities oo plus muon pairs
that become part of the quantum-electrodynamic field.
It is important
here to have regard to the fact that the author has derived the precise value of
the proton-electron mass ratio and explained proton creation in terms of such an
active virtual muon field background [7]. [See Debate
on Creation.] Therefore the existence of a system which can absorb muon
energy as a 'neutrino' process is part of that picture. The reaction:
Emu+ Q:(mu) ~ Q+ + (mu)- .........
(3)conserves charge parity but absorbs the energy Emu of the
muon.
It is submitted, therefore, that the problem of the 'neutrino'
concerns, not the question of whether this is a mystery particle having enormous
penetrating power and virtually no mass, but simply the capacity of the aether
to absorb energy and momentum. The aether is particularly adept at absorbing
energy shed by lepton decay for the simple reason that it is constituted by a
particle system that, in its active form, is nothing other than a vast lepton
system.
A Key Item of Evidence
To add to what has been said above the
author now presents a quite remarkable and new aspect of his theory which bears
upon this neutrino problem.
It was shown in a 1972 paper [14] that the
most degenerate negative particle form in the aether is a charge form that has
the same charge as the electron but occupies a volume of space exactly 1843
times that of the electron. Its 'pressure' equilibrium with an enveloping muon
environment led then directly to the evaluation of the mass-energy of the
virtual muon as having a mass-energy 206.333 times that of the
electron.
Later [7,15] the author discussed this in relation to there
being two types of virtual muon, one having precisely 207 times the electron
mass and one having 205 times the electron mass. From this, taking the heavier
version as the core for the real muon, it was shown how the actual mass of the
real muon of 206.7683 electron mass units could be derived theoretically
[15].
Based on this background the author feels justified in presenting
the following analysis.
We regard the vacuum medium as alive with
activity involving the ongoing creation and decay of virtual muons with a
statistical incidence of one such pair in every cell of space in each cyclic
period at the Compton electron freqency. A cell of space comprises one single
vacuum lattice charge e, which the author will henceforth refer to as the quon,
it being the quon that is the degenerate negative charge form occupying that
volume of 1843 single electrons or positrons. In the author's earlier writings
this particle was termed a q particle or lattice particle because it formed with
all other such particles a crystal-like structure defining the unit space cell
just mentioned.
The cell dimensions are those of a cube of side 6.374
10-11 cm, as shown in reference [16], [17] or [18]. The first
reference was published in 1960 and shows that at that time, though the inertial
mass of the quon was known, its physical size had not be determined. By 1966
[17] this problem had been solved in a quite remarkable manner. Knowing inertial
mass of the quon from its natural rhythmic motion at the Compton electron
frequency and the Maxwell displacement field theory governing that motion, one
could determine the energy density of the enveloping medium. It was found that
the energy of that medium per unit space cell was equal to that of two muons if
the pressure throughout the charge body of the quon was equal to that of the
enveloping medium. Importing a fact from hydrodynamics by which a sphere in
motion through a fluid having the same mass density exhibits half its normal
mass it then became possible to determine the physical radius of the quon. It
was found to be 2.3x10-12 cm.
In this way the space occupied
by the quon charge was determined and the fine-structure constant, alpha,
indicated by the 1960 presentation of the theory [16] was determined to part per
100,000 precision. When the calculations over space, extended to virtually an
infinite cell range, were made by independent researchers in 1972 using the
computing facilities at the National Measurement Laboratory in Australia, it
became evident that part per million precision in accord with the measured value
of alpha pointed to the integer 1843 as being the volume ratio of the quon
charge to that of the electron [14]. Charge radius was based on the use of the
Thomson formula of 2e2/3mc2, where m is the rest-mass of
the charge.
We will now rely on this odd integer 1843 as signifying the
possibility that, when energy is injected into the quon, by the incidence of
those muons striking it as a target in their creation and ahhihilation activity,
the result is the creation of 1843 electrons and positrons, meaning 922
electrons and 921 positrons.
It would take nine muons to create a system
in which all these electrons and positrons were isolated from one another. The
chance of that occurring is very much smaller than the chance of, say, five
muons impacting the quon in a sufficiently concerted way so as to operate
collectively in its transmutation. This is why we need to consider the formation
of electron-positron chains, as their formation needs lower energy.
The
shortest chain oo is not as stable as the oooo chain, since it takes at least
three charges in a group to comply with the three governing conservation
conditions (space volume, charge parity and energy) [19]. Therefore the oooo
will be the most likely product to emerge from the quon source. Analysis then
shows that 460 units of oooo have a collective mass-energy of 460 times 2.25
electron units, which is 1035, whereas 1840 electrons and positrons are involved
in this process. The dominant virtual muon has a mass of 207 electron units and
5 times 207 is 1035, which is why attention is being focused onto this
particular quantitative choice.
Analysis shows that it is impossible to
apply more than five or less than five muons and emerge with a result that
allows 1842 electrons and positrons to emerge as neutral chains, however they
may divide into groups, given the need for conservation of energy. The 1.25 for
two components, 2.25 for four components and 3.225 for six components,
converging to a limit just above 0.5 energy units per electron or positron
component, precludes the muon energy input from being anything other than about
half of 1843 units. Hence the five muon restriction.
Now there is more
than one solution to the ultimate combination of neutral e-p chains that are
formed, given rigorous energy conservation and different possible groupings of
five muons which can have either of 205 or 207 electron mass units. This does
not matter, unless we seek, in developing this theory, to be too rigorous in
estimating the lifetimes and creation rates of the 'neutrino' products, assuming
these are the nearest we can come to tracing something resembling a neutrino
form in our theoretical study of the space medium. For all cases there will be a
predominance of the oooo state, because this has the greater stability. The
primary combination, based on five 207 unit virtual muons being involved, is
tabulated in Table I. E denotes the energy of the e-p chain components and W is
total energy of the n components in a group. V is the total unit volume of that
group and o signifies the isolated electron necessary to assure charge parity
owing to 1843 being odd and the quon having the charge of the electron.
TABLE I
e-p |
E |
n |
W |
v |
oo |
1.250 |
7 |
8.75 |
14 |
oooo |
2.250 |
427 |
960.75 |
1708 |
oooooo |
3.225 |
20 |
64.50 |
120 |
o |
1.000 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
total |
----- |
----- |
1035 |
1843 |
Neutrino Abundance
The proposal emerging from this analysis is
that there can be neutral electron-positron chains formed as an ongoing activity
in the vacuum medium and this is not just linked to the decay of the muon we see
in our high energy particle reactions. However, the fact that 'neutrinos' of
this special form exist gives us a glimmer of understanding as to how electrons
and positrons can be created by vacuum energy fluctuations, as by separation of
oooo into oo plus o plus o. Also, if energy is shed from decay reactions of
lepton forms then its deployment amongst the different forms of our 'neutrino'
as suggested by Table I could explain how the vacuum medium absorbs that energy
into its neutral system.
This would mean that the momentum imparted is an
action propagated through the system of the main quon lattice and so
communicating action to remote locations through space where eventual release of
energy will balance the momentum condition.
It is desirable that we have
some rough indication at least concerning the factors governing the lifetime of
these neutrino forms as just conceived.
However, at the present time
there is really no measured value that will allow us to check the theory now
advanced and so what follows has to be seen as rather speculative. Even the
recently reported estimate of the rest-mass energy of the neutrino as being 2.4
eV seems too vague to be of any meaning [20]. It is impossible to conceive that
a rest-mass energy of 2.4 eV could be linked to any neutral combination of two
equal and opposite unitary charges having the values we associate with all other
particles in the universe. Even the neutron betrays its composition in
meaningful terms by showing its magnetic moment, but we see no trace of a
magnetic moment for the neutrino. It would seem that its oooo composition is
never partially ruptured into separated charges in an ongoing recovery sequence,
as it is for the neutron during one period in 23.
To have a rest-mass
energy of 2.4 eV the neutrino, as a combination of plus or minus e charges,
would have to have a physical form of a radius several hundred thousand times
that of the electron. It would exceed the spacing of atoms in solid matter. Such
a neutrino could not penetrate through that matter. Therefore the 2.4 eV trace
of energy deemed to be involved in the experiments involving the neutrino
scenario will probably imply some small perturbation of the vacuum medium,
rather than affording direct evidence of neutrino mass.
Conclusions
I had planned at this stage to discuss also the
taon neutrino and then try to predict the abundance of these neutral lepton
groups which I deem to be present throughout space. Abundance depends upon
lifetime and incidence of creation and these depend upon the way in which the
virtual muon bombardment affects the 'physical chemistry' of the two-way
reaction:-
E + oooo ~ oo + o + o ........ (4)
Instead, owing to my
attentions having been diverted by a news media report, I will end by commenting
on that 1843 factor introduced above.
The 'neutrino' sea which pervades
all space as a catalyst constituent of the aether which allows energy to
materialize as protons and electrons must also be present in remote galactic
regions. The question then at issue is whether the 1843 factor is the same on a
universal scale.
I have always assumed that it would be the least value
consistent with minimal zero-point energy activity and it being an odd integer
to conserve charge parity when electrons and positrons are created from energy
input. The 1972 Physics Letters paper [14] determined the zero energy limit for
a non-integer value as being N = 1844.53. The relevant formula for the
reciprocal of the fine structure constant alpha is:
(alpha)-1 = hc/2(pi)e2 =
108(pi)(2)1/2N-1/6 = 144(pi)(r/d) ...... (5)and
the rigorous zero-energy evaluation gave r/d as 0.302874.
Increase of
energy activity means that the zero-point energy expands the quantized orbital
motion of the aether charges in their orderly and synchronized jitter activity.
As energy increases, N will decrease in value, but it evidently does that in
integer steps, because 1843 is the value which gives us the fine-structure
constant and other constants such as the proton-electron mass ratio that apply
at least within our local galaxy.
I did once wonder whether the red shift
properties of quasars could mean that physical constants as we know them, such
as G and h, have quite different values in some remote galactic regions. In
particular, could the energy concentration become so overwhelming that, in some
parts of the universe, the 1843 quantity is drastically reduced. If Planck's
constant h were to be increased, for example, in some galaxies, and by this I do
not mean that it changes with time on the Hubble scale, but does remain a true
constant in its own galactic system, then some galaxies might be seen to have a
slightly anomalous red shift.
That might seem to be pure speculation, but
it caused me to work out how a reduction of N in one integer step could affect
the fine-structure constant, and so h. The analysis itself is fascinating,
because there are two terms in equation (5), r and d, which can both alter as
more energy priming is added to the aether lattice.
[The following section of text in the subject paper needs to be
revised to conform with a revision that was applied to the subject of Tutorial
No. 10 by a correction to be found in Lecture
No. 6. However, for continuity in presentation, the original text will be
retained and an Appendix will be added to the paper, the Appendix being a
section of text taken from the above-referenced Lecture No. 6, the subject
being Tifft's Galactic Redshift Measurements.]
The frequency of
radiation for a particular spectral line is proportional to (alpha)2
and so N1/3, but it is also proportional to the Compton electron
frequency. The latter is the frequency of the fundamental rhythm of the aether
and this frequency times the distance d represents a speed that I regard as a
universal constant. Therefore we need to know how d might change with N. The
answer to this is readily found because the electron rest mass energy is also a
universal constant, as is the energy density of the aether, and from this we can
deduce that N-1/3/d3 is a universal constant as well.
Therefore, d is proportional to N-1/9 and the Compton electron
frequency is proportional to N1/9.
The net result of all this
is that the frequency of a spectral line emitted from an N-type galaxy will be
proportional to N4/9, so, if N is reduced, there will be a red shift
component attributable to this change in the N factor. A reduction by one
integer step in the 1843-1833 range corresponds to a fractional shift of 1 part
in 4135. If the red shift is expressed as an apparent speed difference this, as
a fraction of the speed of light, becomes 72.5 km/s.
Now, having spent 40
years developing this theory since I first discovered the theory for the
fine-structure constant and some 25 years since the N-integer feature of that
formula was first recognized, I confess surprise that, only now, have I been
bold enough to explore the effect of N having a value other than that applicable
here on Earth and within our immediate cosmic environment. My surprise turned
into real excitement when, very recently, I heard that a senior figure (W. G.
Tifft) in the astronomical world had published, some 20 years ago, a paper
entitled: 'Discrete State of Red Shift and Galaxy Dynamics II' [21]. That
paper reported that 'red shift differentials between pairs of galaxies and
between galaxies in clusters are found to take on preferred values which are
various multiples of 72.5 km/s'. My attention was drawn to this only because The
Times newspaper in U.K. reported this mystery and declared that Tifft's
discovery had been fully confirmed by research findings of independent
observatories [22].
Surely that is proof indeed that my theory for the
fine-structure constant, as founded in an aether medium, is on sound
foundations! That means, I submit, that the `neutrino hypothesis' which I
advance in this paper will come to be recognized also as well founded. However,
given that I believe no one will ever be able to prove that a 'neutrino' is a
material particle, I expect that what I say on that subject will remain a
hypothesis. It should, however, awaken interest in my papers referenced below
that have appeared in the Hadronic Journal.
References
[1] H. Aspden, 'The Theoretical Nature of the
Neutron and the Deuteron', Hadronic Journal, 9, 129-136 (1986).
[2] H.
Aspden, 'Meson Production based on Thomson Energy Correlation', 9, 137-140
(1986).
[3] H. Aspden, 'An Empirical Approach to Meson Energy Correlation',
Hadronic Journal, 9, 153-157 (1986).
[4] H, Aspden, 'The Physics of the
Missing Atoms: Technetium and Promethium', Hadronic Journal, 10, 167-172
(1987).
[5] H. Aspden, 'Synhronous Lattice Electrodynamics as an Alternative
to Time Dilation', Hadronic Journal, 10, 185-192 (1987).
[6] H. Aspden,
'Instantaneous Electrdynamic Potential with Retarded Energy Transfer', Hadronic
Journal, 11, 307-313 (1988).
[7] H. Aspden, 'The Theory of the Proton
Constants', Hadronic Journal, 11, 169-176 (1988).
[8] H. Aspden,
'Conservative Hadron Interactions Exemplified by the Creation of the Kaon',
Hadronic Journal, 12, 101-108 (1989).
[9] M. C. Nicolaou, 'The
Goldsmid-Grigorov Accomplshment: A Major Breakthrough in Thermoelectrics',
Infinite Energy, 2, Issue No. 10, 67-69 (1996).
[10] H. Aspden, 'Physics
without Einstein', (Sabberton, P.O. Box 35 Southampton, England), p. 147
(1969).
[11] H. Aspden, 'Power from Water: Cold Fusion: Part I', Energy
Science Report No. 5, (Sabberton, P.O. Box 35 Southampton, England), pp. 36-43
(1994).
[12] T. Jacobsen, 'A propos Superconducting Insulators', European
Journal of Physics, 17, 250-252 (1996).
[13] Sir H. Massey, 'The New Age in
Physics', (Elek Books, London), Chapter 9, (1966).
[14] H. Aspden & D. M.
Eagles, 'Aether Theory and the Fine-Structure Constant', Physics Letters, 41A,
423-424 (1972).
[15] H. Aspden, 'The Mass of the Muon', Lett. Nuovo Cimento,
38, 342-344 (1983).
[16] H. Aspden, 'The Theory of Gravitation', (Sabberton,
P.O. Box 35 Southampton, England) p. 24 (1960).
[17] H. Aspden, 'The Theory
of Gravitation' (2nd Edition), (Sabberton, P.O. Box 35 Southampton, England), p.
112 (1966).
[18] H. Aspden, 'Physics Unified', (Sabberton, P.O. Box 35
Southampton, England), p. 163 (1980).
[19] H. Aspden, 'Energy Correlation
Formula applied to Psi Particles', Speculations in Science and Technology, 1,
59-63 (1978).
[20] J. R. Primack, J. Holtzman, A. Klypin & D.O. Caldwell,
'Cold and Hot Dark Matter Cosmology with Muon Neutrino and Taon Neutrino Mass
approximately equal to 2.4 eV', Physical Review Letters, 74, 2160-2163
(1995).
[21] W. G. Tifft, 'Discrete States of Red Shift and Galaxy Dynamics.
II Systems and Galaxies', The Astrophysical Journal, 211, 31-46 (1977).
[22]
N. Hawkes, 'Scientists hit Galactic G-spot', The Times, London, p. 18, October
14, 1996.
APPENDIX
The following is an excerpt from Lecture
No. 6 in these Web pages. It concerns the measurement of hyperfine
frequencies in the radiation spectrum from remote galaxies, which exhibit
anomalous redshift properties, seemingly differing in steps as between
different galactic regions.
QUANTIZED GALACTIC RED SHIFTS
Note that fh is the
frequency representing the hyperfine radiation spectrum of hydrogen. As a red
shift, expressed as an apparent Doppler shift velocity, based on the 300,000
km/s speed of light, this formula tells us that the quantized step in the red
shift is:
(300,000)[1 - (No/N)1/9]km/s, so you can
verify that if No, as reference, is taken to be 1843, then as N
decreases in integer steps so the red shift changes in steps of 18.1
km/s.
If you refer to the pages of my Tutorial No. 10 you will see from
equation (5) that the aether lattice dimension d was shown to vary as
N-1/9. Certain other aether quantities, such as
mec2, hfo, e2/d and fod,
were all deemed to be truly universal constants, notwithstanding the possibility
that fo, d, h and e individually could be different in different
galactic domain regions.
The variation of d, the lattice spacing, was based on the assumption that the
energy density of the aether lattice structure remains uniform throughout the
universe. I now see that this was an error. I should have regarded the main
energy constituent of the aether, that of the virtual muons, as being of uniform
density. Thus you can see, from the expression for
mmu/me,namely:
mmu/me =
[3/8(pi)][108(pi)]3(1/N)4/3that it is
(1/N)4/3/d3 that is the universal constant and this makes
d proportional to (1/N)4/9.
Keep now in mind the fact that our Tutorial analysis showed us that d is
equal to 108(pi) electron charge radii and that the rest-mass energy of the
electron, which we assume to be a universal constant, is proportional to
e2 and inversely proportional to that charge radius. This tells us
that e4 is proportional to d2 and so to
(1/N)8/9.
Now, to come to the nature of the microwave radiation detected by Tifft and
from which the quantization of galactic red shift was measured, it is noted that
the formula for the frequency of hyperfine line separation producing the 21 cm
emission is proportional, in theory, to the product of the Bohr magneton
eh/4(pi)mec and the nuclear magneton eh/4(pi)mpc as
divided by Planck's constant h. This represents a term proportional to frequency
and explains that sixth equation in the above group, namely:
fh =
Kh(me/mp)(e/mec)2 =
K'(N)1/9,where K and K' are constants of
proportionality.
Since me/mp is proportional to
N4/3 and e4 is proportional to (1/N)8/9, that
microwave expression becomes proportional to h(c)2/e2
times N4/9. Note that mec2 is a universal
constant. Now we know from the fine structure formula above and its derivation
that h(c)2/e2 is proportional to c(1/N)1/6 and
c/r is proportional to fo, whereas r/d is proportional to
(1/N)1/6, so that microwave expression becomes proportional to
(N)4/9(1/N)1/6(1/N)1/6fod, which
reduces to proportionality to N1/9, because fod is also a
universal constant. Accordingly, we have justified the form of the sixth
expression listed above.
Remember that in the Tutorial No. 10 account, based on an assumed optical red
shift, the corresponding variation was N4/9. That had explained the
red shift steps of approximately 72.5 km/s with N stepping downwards through
both odd and even integers.
However, with our corrected analysis based on the radio spectrum observation,
the theory implies red shift steps of 18.1 km/s as N decreases in integer
sequence.
Now it is my understanding from reading more of Tifft's work that, though
72.5 km/s is the dominant feature in the quantization of galactic red shifts,
there are intermediate levels of quantization, typically involving 36 km/s and
18 km/s red shift spacing.Tifft has written many papers on the subject, ranging
over a 25 year period, many appearing in the Astrophysical Journal.
It now becomes an interesting exercise to explore the factors which might
govern how Nature selects one value of N with a stronger preference to another
and to assess how this N quantization spectrum might have other cosmological
implications.
Having only recently come to see this feature that N can have a value other
than 1843, I can only proceed tentatively in my own exploration of the subject,
but a picture is developing. It is based on the belief that the virtual muon
population, which must have the mean mass-energy values as determined by the
above expression for mmu, adapt to a mix of virtual muon pairs of odd
units disposed either side of that mean value. Thus, if the mean virtual muon
has 206.3329 electron units of energy, as applies with N as 1843, then there are
pairs of muons of 207 and 205 units in a mix having a ratio of very nearly two
to one.
Do note that this numerical circumstance might well explain why 1843 is
rather special. An N value of 1844 corresponds to the least state of energy
potential but it is 1843 that offers the easy route to proton creation, because
nine virtual muons have to contribute to its creation and the statistical mix of
205 and 207 muons is virtually a 1 to 2 ratio. This means that three 205 muons
plus six 207 muons can come together in a smooth energy transition to create the
proton, whereas the N value of 1844 would involve some energy turmoil.
Now, if you then consider how an aether domain can adapt to a higher energy
state, meaning one for which r/d has increased and N reduced, there has to be
creation of electrons and positrons to take up the volume of space freed by the
reduction of N. Note that N is an integral number of electron charge volumes in
an aether lattice particle, the quon. Now, there are only two ways in which N
can change as a space domain boundary moves through the energy system that fills
all space. N can increase or decrease. It will increase if it moves from a
region where there are too many electrons and positrons in the quantum
electrodynamic underworld. These will combine to create more compact forms of
matter, those protons that we know are created by surplus aether energy. So as
each electron positron-pair suffers its demise to shed energy for pooling as
part of that creation process, their charge volumes will be taken up by two
quons expanding their individual volumes by one unit. N will increase by 1.
The reverse process is not that simple, because a quon has no way of acting
alone to shed some volume and create an electron or positron. It has to look for
assistance from the migrant leptons that are present everywhere in space. The
electron-positron pairs cannot serve this purpose, because they act to increment
N and we are now presuming that they are in a deficit state, because we are
going to create them as the domain wall progresses.
So we look to the virtual muons which we know bombard the quons to create the
proton but we are only looking at an event where a virtual muon pair attacks the
quon, rather than that rare event of proton creation when a multiplicity of
virtual muons need to attack in the same rhythmic cycle period. The scenario
therefore is one for which a pair of 207 muons, in 'fertilizing' the quon, shed
energy to decay into a pair of 205 muons by creating two electrons and two
positrons. This means that N can only decrease in steps of 4 units as the quon
shrinks a little to free the space needed by those electrons and positrons.
Consider what this means. There are regions of space in which there is an
excess of thermal energy. Thermal energy is associated with motion of matter and
all such motion involves inducing electron-positron activity in space. Indeed,
the kinetic energy of an electron can be shown to be attributable to the
statistical creation of electron-positron pairs in the close proximity of that
primary electron. Space has a way of allowing such activity, whilst conserving
energy, charge parity and the volume of space occupied by electric charge, but
that process concerns the equilibrium of the interplay between matter and the
aether and we are here considering the interplay between aether and aether at a
space domain boundary wall. Those virtual electrons involved in the
quantum-electrodynamic underworld are really part of the aether. They can store
energy temporarily but we want our domain wall transition to be between two
stable modes, each locked in a state defined by that number N.
The thermal energy that escapes by being radiated well away from its matter
source has to be absorbed by the aether and it must somehow over-populate space
with those virtual electron-positron pairs which we see as affecting N at the
seat of boundary transitions.
We have argued that N can only increase one integer unit at a time, but it
can only decrease in steps of 4 units. Decrease of N corresponds to increase of
material energy activity in the domain. Therefore, where there are cataclysmic
events in space releasing enormous amounts of thermal energy, the domains will
form with lower N values, probably stepped down in units of 4 from the base
value of 1843. As to probability of the N transition in the 'cooling' phase,
domain boundaries do not move through points in space at short intervals of
time. They are well separated by distances measured in light years, as evidenced
by their effect on geomagnetic field reversals, so in stepping down one integer
digit at a time we shall have a series of domains at the unit intervals which
are associated with a 'cooling'. The 4-step domain states are the ones set up by
the 'hot' state, meaning the stronger source of microwave radiation.
Then remember that each of those unit steps has been shown theoretically to
involve a red shift difference of 18.1 km/s. The stronger radiation will come
from the domains with the N tiering at the 4 unit separation. This would suggest
72.5 km/s red shift intervals between radiation from these domains. So what this
all amounts to is my tentative explanation as to why 72.5 km/s is the dominant
red shift interval, but red shifts said to be close to 36.6 km/s and 18.3 km/s
are also observed.
In questioning this idea, keep in mind that my theory holds firmly to the
proposition that truly fundamental charge forms are spherical and comply with
the J.J. Thomson formula relating energy E, charge e, radius R and mass M,
namely:
E = 2e2/3R = Mc2.
This means that the
quon, which has a charge volume N times that of the electron is important in
these space volume considerations, as is the electron, but all other particle
forms which have very much larger mass are insignificant as to the charge volume
requirements. The story is, of course, very different for the taons and
gravitons which sit in the G-frame, as even the most minute volume of space that
they displace can make its presence felt through the space domain as a
gravitational action.
Having regard to the energy implications involved in these changes of N, it
will need a great deal of analysis of the actual observations of those anomalous
red shifts before one can comment further. I do feel, however, that it is here
that the evidence can be found to prove my theory of the proton and with it the
theory of the fine structure constant and the constant of gravitation. The
parameter N holds the key and it seems that those red shifts observed by W. G.
Tifft of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, West Virginia and
the Steward Observatory in the University of Arizona, Tucson have opened the
door to which that key belongs.
Harold Aspden
June 18, 1998
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