Abstract
Recently, we published two papers in this journal. One of the papers dealt with the action of the radiation fields generated by a traveling-wave element and the other dealt with the momentum transferred by the same radiation fields and their connection to the time energy uncertainty principle. The traveling-wave element is defined as a conductor through which a current pulse propagates with the speed of light in free space from one end of the conductor to the other without attenuation. The goal of this letter is to combine the information provided in these two papers together and make conclusive statements concerning the connection between the energy dissipated by the radiation fields, the time energy uncertainty principle and the elementary charge. As we will show here, the results presented in these two papers, when combined together, show that the time energy uncertainty principle can be applied to the classical radiation emitted by a traveling-wave element and it results in the prediction that the smallest charge associated with the current that can be detected using radiated energy as a vehicle is on the order of the elementary charge. Based on the results, an expression for the fine structure constant is obtained. This is the first time that an order of magnitude estimation of the elementary charge based on electromagnetic radiation fields is obtained. Even though the results obtained in this paper have to be considered as order of magnitude estimations, a strict interpretation of the derived equations shows that the fine structure constant or the elementary charge may change as the size or the age of the universe increases.
Highlights
In Smith [1], a traveling-wave element is defined as follows: it is a thin wire of length l through which a current pulse travels with the speed of light in free space from one end to the other without attenuation
When the speed of propagation of the current pulse is less than the speed of light, the electric field generated by the traveling-wave element consists of three terms, namely electrostatic, induction and radiation
Cooray and Cooray [6,7] described the features of the radiation field generated by a traveling-wave element including the action and the momentum transported by this field
Summary
In Smith [1], a traveling-wave element is defined as follows: it is a thin wire of length l through which a current pulse travels with the speed of light in free space from one end to the other without attenuation. Cooray and Cooray [6,7] (referred to as Paper 1 and Paper 2 from here on) described the features of the radiation field generated by a traveling-wave element including the action and the momentum transported by this field. Another goal of the study was to investigate the features of radiation fields when the charge associated with the current pulse is reduced to its lower limit, namely the elementary charge.
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