GENESIS OF FUNDAMENTAL CHARGE INTERACTIONS

ON PARTICLES, FIELDS & WAVES

In pure particle ontology, interaction between remote particles can only be understood as action at a distance. In field ontology or a combined ontology of particles and fields, local action is mediated by fields. Particles are massive and impenetrable in contrast to fields. The concept of particles has been evolving through history. Wigner’s famous analysis of the Poincaré group is often assumed to provide a definition of elementary particles. Wigner’s analysis does not explain what a particle is and whether a given theory can be interpreted in terms of particles. It gives a conditional answer: If relativistic quantum mechanics can be interpreted in terms of particles, then the possible types of particles correspond to irreducible unitary representations of the Poincaré group. However, the question whether and in what sense relativistic quantum mechanics can be interpreted as a particle theory, is not addressed in his analysis. Hence, the discussion on this subject does not rest with Wigner’s analysis and the question of the localizability of particle states is still open.

The observed particle traces on photographic plates of bubble chambers seem to be a clear indication for the existence of particles. On the other hand, Quantum Field Theory, which has been built on the basis of the scattering experiments, turns out to have considerable problems to account for the observed “particle trajectories”. From this theoretical point of view, it appears to be impossible that our world is composed of particles when we assume that localizability in some finite region of spacetime is a necessary ingredient of the particle concept. Surprisingly, the very theory which excludes localizability is remarkably good in predicting experimental results which apparently involve localizable particles. So far there is no conclusive proof against the possibility of a particle interpretation for QFT. Although there are “N-particle states” among the possible states of QFT, it is not clear how these states relate to N-particles. Malament’s no-go theorem seems to show that there is no middle ground between QM and QFT, i.e., no theory which deals with a fixed number of particles (like in QM) and which is relativistic (like QFT) without solving the localizability problem.

Field is defined as a quantity or measurement assigned to all points in space. Space is the interval between objects or the background in which objects are positioned. Scalar fields assign numbers to space. Vector fields assign numbers with direction. Tensor quantities assign numbers with details like spacetime curvature to each event in spacetime. Thus a field is a set of points or energies in space and not an independent entity. Electromagnetic fields represent changes in electric and magnetic potentials (potential energy). Thus, electromagnetic field is really an energy field. A quantum field is a field with quantum measurements assigned to every point in space. Since quantum properties are different from classical objects, there can be different fields based on spin, electric charge and color charge. (Photons and gluons have zero mass, zero charge and unit spin). This implies fields exist everywhere, which is another way of describing space with energy. Every field has an equilibrium. The equilibrium for electromagnetic field is zero everywhere. A photon field has zero energy (no photons) - a vacuum state. In an electron field, the energy is converted to a photon field. These fields co-exist, which means, the same space contains different energies, but is described in a reductionist fashion. In any field, an energy higher than its vacuum state is called a particle.

To sum up: when a body enters a region of space, if it encounters some form of energy, that energy is given a name and the field is so named: electric field, magnetic field, etc. But how do fields acquire energies? Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, it must have existed in some form or the other. Energy cannot exist without a medium. In the beginning of time, when there were no structures or confinements: the medium and the force had total degrees of freedom. It resembled a river, which appears full, though every moment every drop of water is flowing down never to turn back. There was only one field and one force.

One result of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is that it’s impossible for a system to be in a zero-energy state.  The little bit of energy is called the “ground state energy” or just “ground energy”. If a particle has zero energy, then its velocity - hence momentum - is zero.  However to get to that level of certainty, we need the position to be completely uncertain.  QFT gives an exact value for how much energy empty space should have, which involves summing the quantum mechanical zero-point energies of all the known fields in Nature.  Although we can never access that energy, it does have a gravitational effect. The Voyager probes estimated how strong those gravitational effects are.  It turned out that the theoretical predictions disagree from observation by a factor ranging from 10¹²⁰ to 10¹⁰⁷. Some have brought the difference down to 10⁵⁵. This is called the Vacuum Catastrophe. This proves that modern understanding of fields is fundamentally flawed. The definition of a field as “a region in which each point is affected by a force”, is misleading. Forces, by definition, can affect only massive bodies – not fields. A point has no mass.

Light is called an electromagnetic wave, because it is a wave in an electromagnetic field. A wave is an entity without mass that is smeared over a region of finite extent. It does not have any existence independent of the medium – the field. Without a field, electromagnetic radiation cannot be transmitted, though gravity permeates everywhere. Waves are associated with momentum transfer so that they do not have fixed position co-ordinates, but have a general direction in which to transfer momentum. The direction is never along a straight line but within a narrow band of crests and troughs. The mass term in the momentum transfer refers to the background medium and not the wave proper. Since waves do not have mass or position, different waves propagating different forces can coexist.

Wavelength and frequency are extensions in space and time respectively. The motion of the wave within the narrow band is directed towards a central line - the equilibrium position. After reaching the line, it overshoots due to inertia. The boundaries confining the wave are the spread of the respective energy levels (densities). Once a particle enters the boundary, it gets confined within it till friction with the background brings it to a standstill. This is the maximum energy level.

The fact that the nuclear masses do not add up (10.1103/PhysRevA.96.060501) shows that all particles are confined bundles of mass and energy. Energy cannot be perceived directly, but only indirectly due to its effect during transition of mass. Energy moves mass differently in fields of different density. However, the resistance of the field creates a bow-shock effect on its path, where the medium is compressed and density of the medium increases by jumps due to compression, refraction, rarefaction and diffraction. Where the initial force is not confined, motion continues as a wave. If different forces cancel each other at one point, that becomes a center of mass around which confinement and structure formation begins. The interaction of confined forces are the fundamental interactions.

Are mass and energy interchangeable? The equation e=mc² is not proved in chemical reactions. Even in nuclear reactions, the efficacy is not significant. All experimental proof in this regard relate to indirect methods. The original equation (e=mc²) itself was derived from the assumption that mass increases during motion. Thus, it is circular reasoning. The latest measurement by NIST (Nature. Dec. 22, 2005) found that E differs from mc² by about 0.0000004. What the equation means is: for any system, mass and energy are related by a proportionality constant – and not necessarily interchangeable.

WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY

Quantum mechanics does not treat entities as particles or waves, but describes them as having a mixture of both wave and particle properties seen in interference and diffraction experiments. Since these two apparently contradictory properties have not been reconciled, the quantum world has been thought of as showing wave-particle duality; rather than a definitive, objective world, making reality ambiguous at the quantum level. But waves and particles do have different characteristics related to confinement, position coordinates and motion. The exact position of the wave tip cannot be predicted as it is perpetually in motion. But it is somewhere within a band at any given time and not smeared over all points. Because of its mobility, it has the probability of covering the entire space at some time or the other.

If electrons are waves, then the wavelength of the electron must “fit” into any orbit that it makes around the nucleus in an atom. This is the “boundary condition” for a one electron atom, which must satisfy the equation e=mc², as derived in 1900 by Poincare. All orbits that do not have the electron’s “wavelength fit” are not possible, because wave interference will rapidly destroy the wave amplitude and the electron would not exist anymore. This “interference” effect leads to discrete (quantized) energy levels for the atom. This is precisely the pattern of energy levels that are observed to exist in the Hydrogen atom. Transitions between these levels give rise to entanglement and is seen in the pattern of the absorption or emission spectrum.

Poincaré had proved a recurrence theorem for bounded dynamical systems to show that any appropriately bounded system in which energy was conserved, would of necessity, over an infinite time return an infinite number of times to states arbitrarily close to the initial dynamical state in which the system has started. The “boundary conditions” can be satisfied by many different waves (harmonics) if each of those waves has a position of zero displacement at the right place. These positions where the value of the wave is zero are called nodes (traveling waves and standing waves are labelled by whether the nodes move or not). In the initial universe, such “nodes” acted as the center of mass, which blocked the movement of other forces to accumulate on those points. Wherever it could be in equilibrium, it led to structure formation. Inside the confinement, it led to formation of the intra-body forces of Nature in 4 steps. No particle can interact with others till its equilibrium within the confinement is broken. This is known as charge.

The field interactions are said to arise from higher order terms in the Lagrangians that define the theory. Though these interactions are intrinsic to the theory itself, they cannot be derived from anything else, but have only to be measured. They are packaged in such a way that different terms are related to each other. The Lagrangians are broken up into two separate components: terms that are quadratic in the fields and terms that are cubic or higher in the fields. What it really means is that forces act in two, three or imaginary dimensions. In the quadratic part, the Lagrangian are called the “free” (non-interacting) part of the theory and the higher order terms are called the interactions. In a quadratic term, one particle may “move in” and another “move out”. In a three field combination, another particle is added. In reality, these degrees of freedom refer to the dimension. Dimension is the interface between the internal structural space and the external relational space of any object that describe the fixed spread of objects in given directions. Since we perceive through electromagnetic radiation where the electric field, the magnetic field and their direction of motion are mutually perpendicular, we have three mutually perpendicular dimensions. There can be ten dimensions, which was explained in our last year’s essay here. But these extra-dimensions are projections of these three dimensions. Thus, a field is basically two dimensional, whereas a structure or particle is three dimensional.

WHAT IS CHARGE

Most definitions of charge describe how charges interact, but not what a charge is. Charge is said to be a characteristic of a unit of matter that expresses the extent of distribution of protons and electrons. This equates charge with the number and properties of nucleons and does not define charge by itself. Charge is also said to be a property of matter which enables it to experience a force when placed in an electric or magnetic field. This is not a correct or wholesome definition as even charge neutral objects interact with charged objects and it does not cover all fields. Since the number of protons and electrons in an atom are always equal, there cannot be free-flowing electrons, unless we consider the weak interaction. But even this cannot explain generation of electromotive force or electric current, which behave like fluids – in specific directions away from their initial position to attain equilibrium position. That some particles are their own antiparticles shows: charge is not a fundamental property.

All motions are work that require a force - a vector quantity that causes an object to change its velocity. When a net force (thrust minus gravity) is acting on an object, its kinetic energy will change by an amount equal to the work done. Everything in the universe is ever moving – possess energy (which is kinetic by nature). Rest is a state where all forces acting on a body cancel each other (become charge neutral potential energy). Motion begins when any of the forces acting on a body at rest is switched off or an additional force acts on it to break the equilibrium. The former generates positive charge (moving out to interact with others leading to creation of new combinations). The latter creates negative charge (confining positive charge). After a force is applied, the object moves away from the force and continues at the same uniform (though changed) velocity due to inertia: F=mv (unless other forces act on it, always F≠ma). The magnitude of motion so generated is equal to the magnitude of the force that breaks the equilibrium. This is the intensity of charge. Thus, motion is a fundamental property of everything in the universe and how the equilibrium is broken determines the interactive nature of each body – its charge. Interaction needs two bodies. The interaction can lead to total coupling of both to make them a compact system or partial coupling to make it a loosely held system. In the beginning, there was no compact structures. There was free flow of energy in a background – gravity alone.

The form of Newton’s law of gravitation and the electric field (E) equation shows that, except for the value of the constant and substitution of mass with charge, both are identical. It implies some similarity between the two. However, electric field E is said to be different from gravitational field g. Gravitational force depends on mass, which is a property of the confined body. Electric force does not depend on mass but on charges on both objects, which is related to the internal distribution of mass and energy of each body. The mass of a proton and an electron are divergent by a factor of nearly 2000, but the charges of both are approximately equal, though opposite. Thus, mass is not related to charge. Only the outer layer of an atom interacts with other atoms. But the resultant reaction affects the whole atom. Thus, charge is related to the internal distribution of mass and energy – the interactive potential of a body.

Nature exhibits itself in two ways. Some objects are directly describable by their physical content of matter, energy and radiation as mass, mobility and perceptibility respectively. Other aspects like similarity (cause for measurement), differences (cause for nomenclature) and interdependence (cause for charge) are indirectly describable through alternative symbolism of relation between objects. For example, our notions of space and time are generated by our perception of sequence and interval. The sequential interval between and surrounding masses are space and that between events (evolution of masses due to energy) are time. Their perceptible arrangement is described through coordinates. Space, time and coordinates have no physical presence, though they provide base for objects, events and evolution. They exist independent of any boundary or force or action. Forces or actions can change the interval – not space, time or coordinates. What we measure is digitized versions of the interval – not analog Space, time and coordinates. Interval implies the existence of at least two objects or events, one of which will be the reference frame. A reference frame is a framework that is used for the observation and mathematical description of physical phenomena (how much a system changes - mathematics) and the formulation of physical laws (what, why, how, when, where, etc.). It usually consists of an observer, a coordinate system and a device assigning unit interval in a coordinate system.

Since the intervals have no markers, we describe that segment of space and time by using alternative symbolism of the boundary objects and events respectively. Since measurement is a comparison between similars, we measure the designated magnitude of these intervals with easily intelligible and fairly repetitive similar intervals (like scales or ticks of watches) through comparison, and call these as space and time measurement. Space as different from time is known from their relation with objects: space is inert and time is ever changing. Every object is positioned in space and every event occurs in time. Since they coexist, we can say every event involving objects occurs in spacetime. Spacetime is known from their interdependence.

The scales of Nature are of two types: discreet and continuous. All confined objects, their properties and their interactions are discreet. When a confined object interacts with another, it creates a fixed type of impression on the other. We call it mass. Mass is directly related to the density of the medium. A stone on Earth in air appears heavier than the same stone under water. On a hill top, the same stone appears heavier – not due to acceleration due to gravity, but due to thinner air density and lack of oxygen, which chokes our efficiency. A stone weighing 1 kg will not weigh about 250 gm on Moon, as is wrongly taught in text books. For weighing, we require a standard unit. The unit weight taken to Moon will also be similarly affected as the stone to give the same reading: 1 kg. If we use a different unit weight on Moon, both the units cannot be synchronized. Hence, there is no proof to support that gravity affects mass or weight. It only indicates that gravity is related to density of the medium.

MODIFICATIONS TO COULOMB’S LAW

The Coulomb’s law, which cannot explain interaction between a charged particle and a charge neutral particle, can be applied to the quantum world with some modification. Two positive charges (moving away from the center of mass) brought together would repel each other violently. Two negative charges (confining the positive charge) add up – not repel each other, but coexist. For example, the negative terminal in a battery has an excess of electrons together. Two opposite charges, when totally coupled, submerge their identity by increase mass without changing chemical properties - by converting to neutrons to form isotopes. Two opposite charges, when partially coupled, retain their identity to form other particles by changing chemical properties - form other elements. Depending upon how the internal equilibrium is broken: whether a force is switched off propelling the body to “move out” (generating positive charge) or a new force acts propelling it to “move in” (generating negative charge) from the position at “rest” (charge neutral state), the same body reacts with the others by showing either distancing or proximity tendencies that vary according to the magnitude of the force that breaks the equilibrium. This can also explain the latest observation relating to differences in collision of protons with protons and heavy nuclei (Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 022001 – Published 8-1-2018).

THE FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS

Rest is a state where all forces acting on a body cancel each other (become charge neutral potential energy). In the primordial universe, where force flowed freely in the primordial background, there were infinite numbers of such points, which floated like bubbles in the background structure. Sometimes the accumulations grew by obstructing other free flowing forces. This can be imagined as similar to quark gluon plasma. They were the first particles. Their flow depended only on the density fluctuation of the background structure. That determines the geometry of space and is known as gravity. Gravity does not pull. Like electromagnetism tries to bring the charges of two bodies to equilibrium, gravity tries to bring the two bodies to equilibrium around a common point called barycenter. The measured value of acceleration due to gravity shows that it is maximum at the surface of the Earth and decreases if we go up or down from the surface of the Earth. This is because; the barycenter for practically all bodies with respect to Earth is on the surface of the Earth.

An apple falls to the ground not because gravity pulls it. It remains attached to the stem defying gravity. The mass of the apple increases with time to attain a maximum value. It falls because the capacity of its stem to hold it tightly gets reduced as the fruit ripens. It changes the equilibrium between the stem and the fruit, as the barycenter of the stem-fruit system is nearer to the center of the fruit than that of the stem. The fruit moves towards the Earth with the bigger mass than the stem with the smaller mass and attains equilibrium. The force that brings the masses together is the macro equivalent of the strong force. Spacetime curvature is myth, as it does not affect the branch underneath or a bird flying by or a man sitting under the falling apple.

On scales less than about 0.8 fm, the color force operates, where two particles with opposite charge show proximity-proximity tendencies (moving towards each other), they generate strong interaction - coupling the two bodies to form a new particle. But it would not be stable if two positive charges interact – they will repel each other. If two negative charges interact, they increase energy density only. Two quark-antiquark pairs form unstable mesons. But if another quark of the opposite charge is added, then following Poincaré’s recurrence theorem, it leads to limited conservation of energy by formation of nucleons. If the energy of the confining negative charge equals or exceeds the positive charge, it forms a neutron by compressing gravity within the confinement. This is the strong nuclear interaction. But what if the negative charge is less than the positive charge?

The strong nuclear force is said to glue the atomic nuclei but the weak nuclear force helps in beta decay. Basically, the W bosons involve flavor change in a particle. When a neutron decays into a proton, the neutron releases a W^-, which decays into an electron or the high mass Muon or Tau and changes the neutron into a proton, an electron (e^-) and a neutrino. In the opposite reaction turning a proton into a neutron, a W⁺ particle is needed. But the neutron (939.57 MeV) or proton (938.28 MeV) has very little mass as compared to a W boson (80.4 GeV). Wherefrom they get such high energy? It is said that the vacuum energy of space itself creates these random decays. The virtual particles can pop into existence even within the nucleus of an atom. But no one has verified it. Further, this proposition is questioned after the Vacuum Catastrophe discussed earlier.

These contradictions can be eliminated if we consider the charge difference in the strong nuclear interaction. Experiments have put a non-zero electric charge on neutrons, which has been measured and found to be q_n = (-1.5~2.2) x 10^-20 electron charges (aps.org/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.25.2887). Particles have a weak charge, analogous to the electric charge that describes a particle’s propensity to have weak interactions with other particles. This weak charge is predicted by the Standard Model to be about -0.989 for neutrons, about -0.071 for electrons and about +0.071 for protons, as measured in elementary charge units (Source: Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory). Similarly, charge of electrons and protons are found not to be equal. The upper limit to the electron proton charge difference is (0.8 ± 0.8) 10⁻²¹ e (Physics Letters B, Volume 137, Issues 5-6, pages 439-442 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0370-2693 (84)91752-0). It is a logical conclusion, as charge neutral atoms cannot interact. Since the nature of negative charge is to move from the surface towards the nucleus, the excess negative charge is not evident from outside.

Assuming the present measured value is true, a proton has two up quarks with +2/3 charge and one down quark with -1/3 charge (my theory discussed separately shows 3% error in the measured value – these are +7/11 for up quarks and -4/11 for down quarks). This makes proton charge equal to +1 (in my theory it is +10/11 in electron units). Since positive charge “move out”, it is comparatively stable against the background where it is confined by an electron, which is the tip of an outgoing radiation confined by the field. Since the proton radiates in all directions, which is confined by the medium or the field, the electron appears all around, but cannot be predicted at any particular location at any specific time (in my theory, the neutron has -1/11 charge of an electron). Thus, protons and neutrons attract each other. Since there is an imbalance, the outgoing radiation of protons create an intense field due to refraction that appears as the W boson. The interaction between these two charges releases a small amount of energy that appear as the neutrino/anti-neutrino. Similar interaction also takes place in the reverse direction. These are the beta decay or beta minus decay part of weak interaction, which are caused by refracting gravity within the confinement. Thus, weak interaction is a proximity-distance interaction. The weak force is essentially as strong as the electromagnetic force, but it appears weak because its influence is limited by the energy of the Z and W bosons. Their energy limits the range of the weak force to about 10^-18 meters, and it vanishes altogether beyond the radius of a single proton.

Neutrinos are particles that interact only via the weak interaction. When physicists shot neutrinos through the bubble chamber, they were able to detect evidence of the weak neutral current; hence indirect evidence for the Z boson. After the description of the electromagnetic force in terms of the emission and absorption of photons, the concept of the weak force being transmitted by intermediary messenger particles started. Initially, it was thought that only charged weak messengers were involved in all observed weak interactions. However, attempts to produce a gauge-invariant theory of the weak force suggested unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions. The resulting electroweak theory required two neutral particles. Of these, photon was one and Z boson was the other. The “width” of the Z is said to be related to the particle’s lifetime through the uncertainty principle and gives a measure of its lifetime and thereby reflects the number of ways in which the particle can decay. The greater the number of ways it decays, the shorter its life. Measurements show that when the Z decays to neutrino-antineutrino pairs, it produces only three pairs of neutrino: electron-positron, muon-antimuon, and tau-antitau.

The chirality of weak interaction (the left-chiral electron is charged under the weak force whereas the right-chiral anti-positron is not - the electron and the anti-positron are not the same particle) proves this. Force and torque cause changes in the motion of objects. A force is any influence which tends to change the motion of an object. In torque, the axis of rotation is also involved. These are the cause for chirality. Chirality is the wave motion in three dimensions. In the limit of zero mass they correspond to the left or right helicity. Rotational equilibrium is where the addition of all the torques acting on an object equals zero - when there is no torque or all the torques acting on the object cancel each other.

FROM MICRO TO MACRO

While the strong interaction is characterized by exclusive position (close coupling), the weak interaction is characterized by harmony (weak coupling) between the constituents at micro scale. Their macro equivalents are electromagnetic interaction and alpha decay. If the more massive body shows distance, while the other, proximity variable tendencies, the force is called electromagnetic interaction, which is characterized by the tendency of rarefaction of the field to attain equilibrium. But if both components are dominated by positive charge (distance-distance variables), then it leads to alpha decay due to diffraction, which is the fifth force of Nature.

Gravity is the mother force, which resolves into four fundamental interactions. These five can form non-linear combinations that produce infinite varieties.