Charged Elementary Particles Research Articles

Gravity, Inertia, and Quantum Vacuum Zero Point Fields

Over the past several years Haisch, Rueda, and others have made the claim that the origin of inertial reaction forces can be explained as the interaction of electrically charged elementary particles with the vacuum electromagnetic zero-point field expected on the basis of quantum field theory. After pointing out that this claim, in light of the fact that the inertial masses of the hadrons reside in the electrically chargeless, photon-like gluons that bind their constituent quarks, is untenable, the question of the role of quantum zero-point fields generally in the origin of inertia is explored. It is shown that, although non-gravitational zero-point fields might be the cause of the gravitational properties of normal matter, the action of non-gravitational zero-point fields cannot be the cause of inertial reaction forces. The gravitational origin of inertial reaction forces is then briefly revisited. Recent claims critical of the gravitational origin of inertial reaction forces by Haisch and his collaborators are then shown to be without merit.

Search for free fractional electric charge elementary particles using an automated millikan oil drop technique

We have carried out a direct search in bulk matter for free fractional electric charge elementary particles using the largest mass single sample ever studied-about 17.4 mg of silicone oil. The search used an improved and highly automated Millikan oil drop technique. No evidence for fractional charge particles was found. The concentration of particles with fractional charge more than 0. 16e ( e being the magnitude of the electron charge) from the nearest integer charge is less than 4.71x10(-22) particles per nucleon with 95% confidence.

Non-Archimedean character of quantum buoyancy and the generalized second law of thermodynamics

Quantum buoyancy has been proposed as the mechanism protecting the generalized second law when an entropy-bearing object is slowly lowered towards a black hole and then dropped in. We point out that the original derivation of the buoyant force from a fluid picture of the acceleration radiation is invalid unless the object is almost at the horizon, because otherwise typical wavelengths in the radiation are larger than the object. The buoyant force is here calculated from the diffractive scattering of waves off the object, and found to be weaker than in the original theory. As a consequence, the argument justifying the generalized second law from buoyancy cannot be completed unless the optimal drop point is next to the horizon. The universal bound on entropy is always a sufficient condition for operation of the generalized second law, and can be derived from that law when the optimal drop point is close to the horizon. We also compute the quantum buoyancy of an elementary charged particle; it turns out to be negligible for energetic considerations. Finally, we speculate on the significance of the absence from the bound of any mention of the number of particle species in nature.

New method for searching for massive, stable, charged elementary particles

I describe a new method of searching for electrically charged and stable elementary particles with masses larger than about ${10}^{13}\mathrm{GeV}{/c}^{2}.$ This method is based on measuring the terminal velocity of uniform radius liquid drops falling in air. The range of this search method and concomitant imponderables are discussed.

Tracking elementary particles near their primary vertex: A combinatorial approach

Colliding beams experiments in High Energy Physics rely on solid state detectors to track the flight paths of charged elementary particles near their primary point of interaction. Reconstructing tracks in this region requires, per collision, a partitioning of up to 103 highly correlated observations into an unknown number of tracks. We report on the successful implementation of a combinatorial track finding algorithm to solve this pattern recognition problem in the context of the ALEPH experiment at CERN. Central to the implementation is a 5-dimensional axial assignment model (AP5) encompassing noise and inefficiencies of the detector, whose weights of assignments are obtained by means of an extended Kalman filter. A preprocessing step, involving the clustering and geometric partitioning of the observations, ensures reasonable bounds on the size of the problems, which are solved using a branch & bound algorithm with LP relaxation. Convergence is reached within one second of CPU time on a RISC workstation in average.

The Spectacle of Science: An Experiment in 1744 Concerning the Aurora Borealis

The Spectacle of Science: An Experiment in 1744 Concerning the Aurora Borealis Svante Lindqvist (bio) Peas and Aquavit Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. The illustration to the article on artificial aurora in the Proceedings of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1744. Reprinted from Kungl. Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 6 (1744), plate III. In 1744 a short article, little more than a page in length, was published in the Kungliga Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, abbreviated KVAH in the following); it was entitled “Experimentum aurorae borealis artificialis.” 1 The article was illustrated with a copperplate (Figure 1) and described an attempt to reproduce in the laboratory the luminous phenomena that are characteristic of the aurora borealis. The experiment proceeded as follows: Through a hole “as large as a large pea” 2 a ray of sunlight was admitted into a darkened room to strike a prism; which was so angled that the refracted ray passed just above the surface of a glass filled to the brim with “common grain spirit”: And then one observes with wonderment on the screen a northern light so natural that nothing can be more similar, and as the surface of the aquavit is quickly warmed by the colored sunbeam and in consequence evaporates, so one perceives most wondrous movements on the screen, on which flashing beams shoot suddenly up and then transform into colored veils, endlessly changing position between themselves, the one against the other; to speak [End Page 57] briefly, one sees all the phenomena that the natural northern lights display and as changeable as the same. These unending changes and the fact that it is never twice the same, just like the northern light, arises in part from the greater or lesser evaporation of the aquavit, and in part from the movement of the sunbeam, in that it moves with the sun and falls now above, now below the actual surface of the liquor. 3 The author concludes by saying that because of the continuous change in the movement of the light across the screen one never tires of watching this experiment, and also that it is the “very most beautiful thing that can be arranged in a dark room.” 4 The first conclusion that we can draw from this little article is based on an examination of our own reaction. A modern reader is inclined to smile at the experiment, particularly when Sweden’s national beverage, “common grain spirit,” represents the vital medium. Our reaction of indulgent amusement when confronted with the experimental methods of earlier times, may often lead us to overlook their contemporary significance. The cumulative nature of technical knowledge ensures that we are more or less [End Page 58] familiar with most of the subjects. To us they seem trivial, and we are therefore apt to notice concrete details that our own values cause us to find picturesque and amusing, such as, in this case, the fact that the diameter of the aperture was stated to be “as large as a large pea.” We have difficulty in differentiating between what was new and what was part of the established technology of the period in the list of apparatus, and we therefore tend to miss important innovations. It all seems rather obvious, and we find it mildly amusing. Our condescending attitude stems from our modern knowledge of natural phenomena and their causes. Today even a layperson— any member of “the educated public,” and not just the geocosmic physicist—may consider that he or she knows that the aurora originates from the interaction of charged elementary particles from space with the upper atmosphere in the regions around the earth’s magnetic poles. If we happen in addition to know our history of science, we are also aware that the English astronomer Edmund Halley declared as early as 1716 that the aurora was of a magnetic nature, and that this was confirmed by the Swede Anders Celsius and his assistant Olof Hiorter in 1747. The short Swedish essay— published a quarter of a century after Halley’s theory—thus becomes a cul-de-sac branching from the main road of knowledge, giving us all the...

Quasi-long-range order in anyon superfluids

We study a two-dimensional “anyon” gas in which the elementary charged particles are bosons with hard core interactions. We find, in the Bogoliubov approximation, that the anyon gas is superfluid at zero temperature with quasi-long-range order. The quasi-long-range order is a consequence of the long-range statistical interactions. The quasiparticle excitations are bosons, but the spectrum has a (weak) gap and no soft modes of the expected type. At low temperatures the system may be considered an incipient superfluid.

Chemistry of Smectitic and Illitic Phases in Interstratified Soil Smectite

AbstractThe objective of this investigation was to determine the elemental composition and mineralogy of the smectitic and illitic phases in interstratified smectite‐illite from a typical upper Midwestern agricultural soil. A sample of soil clay (<2‐µm fraction) from the Ap horizon of a Webster (fine‐loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplaquoll) pedon was fractionated by centrifugation to prepare various fine‐clay (<0.020‐, <0.026‐, <0.036‐, <0.045‐, <0.060‐, and <0.090‐µm size fractions) samples. X‐ray diffraction analyses indicated that interstratified smectite‐illite was the only mineral present in significant quantities in the fine‐clay samples. Elemental analyses of the fine‐clay samples were performed by inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectroscopy using suspension nebulization. The elemental analyses revealed significant linear correlations for the K vs. other element relationships (P < 0.001 for K vs. Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Ti, Mn, and Zn, and P < 0.01 for K vs. Mg). A nonlinear parameter optimization technique, based on elemental mass balance, was used to estimate the elemental compositions and proportions of the smectitic (K‐free) and illitic (K‐bearing) phases in the fine‐clay samples. The results for the elemental mass balance optimization were independently verified by water mass balance. The smectitic phase was a high‐charge (0.482 per formula unit), Fe‐rich montmorillonite (46.6% tetrahedral charge). The illitic phase consisted of dioctahedral, tetrahedrally charged (86.9% tetrahedral charge) elementary illite particles. Layer charge for the illitic phase was 0.473 per formula unit, which is substantially below the lower limit for classification of illite. The interstratified smectite‐illite comprised at least 60% of the whole (<2‐µm fraction) soil clay and the illitic phase comprised at least 36% of the interstratified smectite‐illite.

Search for supermassive Cahn-Glashow particles in lead.

A radiochemical search has been made for negatively charged massive elementary particles (X/sup -/) bound to lead nuclei by utilizing the fact that such systems would have the nuclear properties of lead but the chemical properties of thallium. We looked for evidence of PbX/sup -/ by searching for ..gamma.. rays emitted following the ..beta.. decay of /sup 206/BiX/sup -/ produced by PbX/sup -/(p,xn) reactions. No evidence of such decays was observed and a limit has been established on the possible concentration of X/sup -/ particles in lead of <1.5 x 10/sup -13/ per nucleon.

Mach's principle and the reciprocal symmetry of nature

This article develops the postulate that spacetime-charge inversion invariance reflects a fundamental reciprocal symmetry in nature between the two long range forces, from which the derivation of Mach's principle (i.e., the principle that the fundamental parameters of the electromagnetically elementary charged particle are related to those describing the electromagnetically observable universe) follows quite easily. Interpreting this result, it is argued that relativity and quantum mechanics can be made conceptually compatible and mathematically consistent by this reciprocal symmetry if one realizes that relativity isboth a macroscopic, semiclassical theory (i.e., the “global half of relativity,” described by Eq. (1.1), including special and general relativity) and a microscopic theory (i.e., the “local half of relativity,” described by Eq. (2.1), including relativistic quantum mechanics and field theory). The reciprocal symmetry of nature, then, promises unique (differential and/or integral) relationships between the coordinate variables of the “observers” of these tworeciprocally related theories, which implies unique, consistent numerical values for the scalar curvatureR, the massM, and the critical density for “closure,”ρ c, of the observable universe [derived from the elementary particle parameters (i.e., the electron mass and Coulomb radius)]. With this symmetry we also postulate a plausible mechanism for spontaneous generation of matter from the ubiquitous (zero-mass ether) “nothingness” of the “Dirac sea” of “filled negative energy states,” and can consistently interpret both the positive and negative-energy state solutions of Dirac's equation for massive, spin-1/2 (i.e., fermion) particles and both the advanced and retarded potential solutions of electromagnetic field equations. It is pointed out that, with this interpretation of the “advanced potential solutions” from electromagnetic field theory, one can actuallyderive causality from electromagnetic theory.

A Single Atomic Particle Forever Floating at Rest in Free Space: New Value for Electron Radius

An updated survey of mostly experimental spectroscopy work in Seattle on an individual closely-confined isolated atomic or elementary particle is presented. The classical notion of an atomic particle at rest in free space is discussed, and shown to be approximable by zero-point confinement of the particle in a laboratory trap. An important tool for cooling the particle, and in the case of an electron, for obtaining directly the difference of spin and cyclotron frequencies vs, vc, is side band excitation. The quantum numbers of the geonium "atom", an electron in a Penning trap, have been continuously monitored in a non-destructive way by the new "continuous" Stern-Gerlach effect. In this way the g-factors of electron and positron have been determined to unprecedented precision,½g ≡ vs/vc ≡ 1.001 159 652 188(4),providing the most severe tests of QED and of the CPT symmetry theorem, for charged elementary particles. From the close agreement of experimental and theoretical g-values a new, 104 × smaller, value for the electron radius, Rg < 10-20 cm, may be extracted. Other important results are: confinement of the individual positron, Priscilla, for 3 months, a tenfold suppression of the natural width of the cyclotron resonance, detection of an isomeric (cyclotron-excited) state via mass-spectroscopy, isolation and continuous detection of an individual proton, confinement of ≈ 100 antiprotons slowed to ≈ 3000 eV, confinement of a Ba+ ion to 13 ≈ 100 nm, and the demonstration of quantum jumps in geonium and in an isolated, individual regular atomic particle, Ba+. Some new experiments are proposed.

Searches for supermassive X- particles in iron.

Two searches have been made for negatively charged massive elementary particles (X/sup -/) in iron nuclei by utilizing the fact that such systems would have the nuclear properties of iron but the chemical properties of manganese. We have looked for /sup 56,58/FeX/sup -/ by searching for ..gamma.. rays emitted following the ..beta.. decays of /sup 56/CoX/sup -/ and /sup 59/FeX/sup -/ produced by (p,n) and (n,..gamma..) reactions, respectively. No evidence of such particles was observed in either experiment, and a limit has been established on the possible concentration of X/sup -/ particles in iron of <1.2 x 10/sup -12/ per nucleon.

Electron magnetic moment from geonium spectra: Early experiments and background concepts

The magnetic moment of a free electron has been measured by observing both its low-energy spin and cyclotron resonances (at ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{s}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{s}$/2\ensuremath{\pi} and ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{c}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$/2\ensuremath{\pi}, respectively) by means of a sensitive frequency-shift technique. Using radiation and tuned-circuit damping of a single electron, isolated in a special anharmonicity-compensated Penning trap, also cooled to 4 K, the electron's motion is brought nearly to rest, thus preparing it in a cold quasipermanent state of the geonium ``atom.'' The magnetic-coupling scheme, described as a continuous Stern-Gerlach effect, is made possible through a weak Lawrence magnetic bottle which causes the very narrow axial resonance, at ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{z}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{z}$/2\ensuremath{\pi} for the harmonically bound electron, to change in frequency by a small fixed amount \ensuremath{\delta} per unit change in magnetic quantum number.Spin flips are indirectly induced by a scheme which weakly drives the axial motion at the ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{a}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{a}$/2\ensuremath{\pi} spin-cyclotron difference frequency within the inhomogeneous magnetic field, thus yielding a measure of ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{a}$\ensuremath{\equiv}${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{s}$-${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$. The magnetic moment ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{s}$ in terms of the Bohr magneton ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ equals (1/2) the spin's g factor, which in turn is described by ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{s}$ and ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$: g=2${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{s}$/${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$=2${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{s}$/${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$. In a Penning trap, however, these resonance frequencies are obtained from the observed cyclotron frequency at ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}^{\mathcal{'}}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$-${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{e}$ and the observed anomaly frequency at ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{a}^{\mathcal{'}}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{s}$-${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}^{\mathcal{'}}$, which are related by the small electric shift ${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{e}$ computed using the measured axial frequency and 2${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{e}$${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}^{\mathcal{'}}$=${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{z}$${\mathrm{}}^{2}$. This last expression, derived for a perfectly axially symmetric trap, happens to be practically invariant against small imperfections in the electric quadrupole field (error in ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$${&lt;10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}16}$). The magnetic-bottle-determined line shapes are analyzed and found to have sharp low-frequency edge features which correspond to the electron being temporarily at the trap center and at the bottom of the magnetic well. Relativistic shifts are considered and found to be ${&lt;10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}11}$. Our result at the time of submission, g/2=1.001 159 652 200 (40), is the most accurately determined parameter of any elementary charged particle which in addition can be directly compared with theory.

Geometrical aspects of magnetic monopoles

The possible topological structures of elementary particles have been investigated to explore the possibility of the existence of magnetic monopoles. It is pointed out that when an elementary charged particle is depicted as an extended body such that the orientation of the internal space (“internal helicity”) defines the fermion number, the global conservation of this does not allow the existence of a magnetic monopole. Again it is argued that when anisotropy is introduced in the microlocal space-time depicting the internal space of hadrons, this gives rise to the internal symmetry algebra and no non-Abelian gauge fields and Higgs scalars are necessary to have a grand unified scheme of interactions. This avoids theSU2 and GUT monopoles. Besides, in this formalism, baryon number corresponds to the orientation or internal helicity of the composite system and the global conservation of this quantum number is found to be a consequence of Lorentz invariance. This forbids the existence of any sort of cosmological monopole in this Lorentz invariant Universe.

Atomic Beams Stopped by Laser Light, and Trapped

The trapping of charged elementary particles and ions by various electromagnetic field configurations is a well established art. Last month (page 17) we told of a lone electron that was confined for almost a year in the vacuum of a Penning trap, yielding a superbly delicate observation of lowenergy relativistic hysteresis. But the trapping of electrically neutral particles—atoms in particular—is quite another matter. In the absence of the simple Lorentz force acting on a charged particle, one has to reach for a much weaker, second-order handle—the atom's magnetic or induced electric dipole moment. A variety of ingenious magnetic and laser traps have been proposed for atoms, but they all suffer a severe limitation: The weak dipole interaction with the trapping field yields only very shallow trapping potential wells, generally incapable of holding an atom moving much faster than a man can run—about 10 meters/second.

Scattering of ultrarelativistic deuterons by nuclei

Theoretical study of the interaction of ultrarelativistic hadrons with one another and with nuclei is stimulated by a number of experiments on the scattering of these particles with energies of ten billion electronvolt and more. It is difficult to explain the data obtained in such experiments because of the absence of a consistent relativistic quantum theory of hadrons. However, the existing experiments on the interaction of hadrons with hadrons and nuclei at high and superhigh energies can be well described phenomenologically in the framework of the diffraction approximation [1, 2], which was also used successfully earlier but at much lower, nonrelativistic energies [3, 4]. In the present paper, we derive a general formula for Hyugens's principle for monochromatic vector waves describing particles with spin 1 (for example, deuterons); this is used to obtain formulas for the cross sections of elastic and inelastic (accompanied by the emission of photons without disintegration of the particles) scattering of ultrarelativistic deuterons by nuclei with allowance for the spin and structure of the deuteron and the target nucleus; some special cases are also considered. The internal structure of the colliding nuclei, and also the possibility of excitation and disintegration of the target nuclei are taken into account by means of a generalization of the diffraction method to the case of the collision of any two nuclei, consideration being given to the interaction between each nucleon of the incident nucleus and all the nucleons of the target nucleus. In particular, this generalizes the results of [3–6] (in which diffraction scattering of elementary charged particles with spins 0, 1/2, and 1 with emission of photons was studied) to the case of composite incident particles with spin.

Mutually interacting charge fields: a new approach to gauge theoretical formulations of elementary-particle processes

Physical events in spg~e-time always involve an observe an ~ object to be observed ~. This is true, especially in the classical domain, for charged particles. Specifically the very ac t of t ruing to classically observe an elementary charged particle (or its associated electromagnetic field) always involves other charged particles. Because of the empirical existence of an indivisible unit of electric charge in Nature, the paradigm of ~ elementary ~> charged particle and ~ elementary ~> electromagnetic field (as used in conventional Maxwell-Lorentz formulations of classical eleetrodynamics) is classically nonoperational in the microcosm. This is because one cannot reduce the value of the measuring charge continuously to zero, but merely to the l imit of one electron charge. Hence the very act of classically trying to observe an ~ elementary ~> charge will always involve other such ~ elementary ,~ charges in the detection apparatus. Since the paradigm of elementary charged particle is classically nonoperational (within the framework of purely microscopic electromagnetic interactions), one is tempted to t ry to elminate the concept from purely electromagnetic formulations of classical electron theory, but cannot consistently do so without changing the basic formulation from the conventional MaxwellLorentz theory. A simple way of accomplishing this, without el iminating the fields entirely (as in Wheeler-Feynman electrodynamics), is to rede]ine the basic interacting electrodynamic degrees o] ]reedom as being ~ charge-]ields , (i.e. each charge has its own set of Maxwell field equations, with their own associated set of ~ charge-Field ~> solutions, and postulate that physical reality is ~ wp o] mutual interactions between various ~ charge-]ielde ~ in spacetime. We call this formulation (Classical Elementary Measurement Electrodynan~ics ) (i). In order to understand the structure of the new formalism, a ~ direct-(charge-field)action ~ type of classical electrodynamie theory, it is best to view it from the context of its comparison to conventional Maxwell-Lorentz clectrodynamics, and other alternative ~ Direct-Action ,~ formulations.

On a new mathematical framework for fundamental theoretical physics

It is shown by means of general principles and specific examples that, contrary to a long-standing misconception, the modern mathematical physics of compressible fluid dynamics provides a generally consistent and efficient language for describing many seemingly fundamental physical phenomena. It is shown to be appropriate for describing electric and gravitational force fields, the quantized structure of charged elementary particles, the speed of light propagation, relativistic phenomena, the inertia of matter, the expansion of the universe, and the physical nature of time. New avenues and opportunities for fundamental theoretical research are thereby illuminated.

MACH'S Principle, Gravitation and Electromagnetism: The Electromagnetic Inertia of Charged Elementary Particles

AbstractDie Frage nach der Größe und dem Verhalten des elektromagnetischen Anteils eines geladenen Elementarteilchens zur Masse wird untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, daß die elektromagnetische Masse eines solchen Teilchens immer endlich ist, auch wenn der Radius des Teilchens null wird, vorausgesetzt, daß der “cut‐off” der relativistischen Quantenelektrodynamik als Approximation des physikalischen Prozesses angenommen wird, der durch die folgenden Postulate dargestellt wird: I. Die bloße Ladung eines Elementarteilchens kann nur virtuelle Photonen mit Energien, die ein integrales Vielfaches einer fundamentalen Energie sind, emitieren und absorbieren. II. Die beobachtete Ladung eines Elementarteilchens ist eine von seinem “Radius” unabhängige Konstante. Alternativen, die das “cut‐off”‐Dilemma lösen, werden kurz diskutiert. Es wird bemerkt, daß der MACHsche Aspekt einer elektromagnetischen Masse (entsprechend PAULIS Kriterium für den MACHschen Aspekt) von der detaillierten Struktur des Postulates II abhängt und daß vorhandene experimentelle Ergebnisse gegenwärtig den Sachverhalt nicht mit Sicherheit zu entscheiden erlauben.

Charged Particlelike Solutions to Nonlinear Complex Scalar Field Theories

It is shown that spatially localized singularity-free particlelike solutions exist for Lorentz-covariant complex scalar field theories with minimal gauge-invariant electromagnetic coupling, a positive-definite energy density, and suitably prescribed nonlinear self-interaction. Such a theory provides a perfectly consistent structural model on the classical level for a charged elementary particle of finite positive energy.