Symmetry and the order of events in time. A proposed identity of negative mass with antimatter

Abstract

In another paper in this series, we developed a symmetrical theory of mass which describes how systems of positive mass and negative mass will respond to an input of thermal energy. A system composed of positive mass or negative mass will respond to an input of thermal energy in opposite ways. For example, if a system composed of positive mass expands in response to radiation from a hot body, a system composed of negative mass will contract. Likewise, if the system composed of positive mass contracts when brought in communication with a cold body, a system composed of negative mass will expand. In addition, when a system of positive or negative mass is brought into contact with radiation from a thermal reservoir either hotter or colder than the system, thermal processes are induced such that the sign of the change of entropy of a system composed of positive mass is opposite of that of a system composed of negative mass. That is, in response to thermal energy, a system of negative mass behaves as if it is a system of positive mass going backwards in time. This is reminiscent of Feynman's definition of antimatter as matter going backwards in time. Negative mass is consistent with the negative energy solutions to the equations of the Special Theory of Relativity when combined with quantum mechanics. Formally, the total energy of a particle can be either positive or negative, which means that the mass of that particle can be either positive or negative. Dirac eliminated the negative mass solution by giving certain complex properties to the vacuum. Pauli used only the positive mass solutions to build the theory of spin and statistics. On the other hand, we interpret both the positive and negative energy solutions to be real solutions that represent substances with positive mass and negative mass, respectively. Thermal energy is only one part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. It is well known that matter and antimatter respond to electromagnetic radiation in opposite ways. For example, if an electron moves one way in an electromagnetic field, a positron will move in the opposite way. We apply our theory of positive and negative mass to matter and antimatter and suggest that it productive to consider matter as having a positive mass and antimatter as having a negative mass. The equations presented here, which treat matter as having a positive mass and antimatter