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Is Matter Made of Light?The Transluminal Energy Quantum (TEQ)

Model of the Electron and the Photon

Richard Gauthier

Santa Rosa Junior CollegeSanta Rosa, CA

San Francisco Amateur Astronomers February 18, 2009

www.superluminalquantum.org

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Multiwavelength Milky Way

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The 2.7K temperature of spaceData from COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer)

showed a near-perfect fit between the theoretical blackbody radiation curve predicted by the big bang theory and the curve observed for the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) from space.

The blackbody radiation curve above was first explained using the idea of the quantum

COBE data shows very slight temperature differences between CMBR and the theoretical blackbody radiation curve

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But what exactly is a quantum (or a photon or an electron)?

A Brief History

of the Quantum

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Stoney: Electric charge is quantized

George Johnstone Stoney• introduced the term “electron” as a

fundamental quantity of electric charge in 1891 and first calculated a value of this charge. But he didn’t introduce the term “quantum”.

• contributed to the development of electron theory

• helped lay the foundations for the eventual discovery of the electron particle.

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Thompson’s electron carried a fixed (quantized) amount of electric charge

and mass

J.J. Thompson discovered the electron as a sub-atomic particle in 1897. He measured the charge to mass ratio of the electron. Later he measured the charge of the electron and calculated its mass.

He concluded that electrons come from within atoms and so atoms are divisible.

He also didn’t introduce the term “quantum”.

But… Thompson had no model of the electron.

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Planck’s “energy quantum”Max Planck proposed in 1900 that radiation (blackbody radiation) is emitted from or absorbed by matter in discrete amounts he called quanta (plural for quantum) (Quantum = “how much?” in Latin.) h is now called Planck’s constant.

E hf

Blackbody spectrum of light at different temperatures

E = radiation energy emitted or absorbed by a material oscillator

f = the frequency of vibration of the oscillator

h is Planck’s constant

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Einstein’s “light quantum”

. But… Einstein had no model of the photon or the electron .

Albert Einstein proposed in 1905 that a corpuscle of light (‘light quantum”, later named a photon) has an energy given by

E hfHe also proposed that a particle of matter like the electron contains an amount of energy given by

2E mcE = energy contained in a a mass

m = the quantity of mass

c = the speed of light

E = energy of light quantum

f = frequency of light quantum

h = Planck’s constant

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Rutherford’s planetary model of the atom

. But… Rutherford had no model of the electron.

Ernest Rutherford, based on experiments scattering alpha particles (helium nuclei) from thin gold foil, proposed in 1909 that an atom has a positively charged nucleus that is very small compared to the size of an atom and contains most of the mass of an atom. In his model, negative electrons orbit the nucleus like planets orbit the sun. BUT orbiting electrons would emit radiation and quickly spiral into the nucleus of the atom.

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Bohr’s planetary model of the atom

. But… Bohr had no model of the photon or the electron .

Neils Bohr proposed in 1913 an atom has stable orbits, and photons are emitted or absorbed when an electron jumps from one orbit to another

2 1hf E E

The Bohr model of the atom gave rises to theexpression “quantum jump”.

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Parson’s Magneton Model of the Atom and the Electron

Helical and toroidal models of the electron have taken several forms up to thepresent day, though none has been scientifically accepted.

Alfred Lauck Parson proposed in 1915 that an electron is formed of a helical vortex or circular ring of charged filiments circulating at high speed along a common continuous path in an atom. Also known as the "toroidal ring model","magnetic electron", "plasmoid ring", "vortex ring", or "helicon ring". Parson’s magneton model for chemical bonding and electron sharing influenced chemist Gilbert N. Lewis to propose chemical bonding rules for atoms.

In the model, charge fibers are twisted an integer number of times, to account for the quantum number of angular momentum of an electron in an atom. The helicity or handedness of the twist was later thought to distinguish an electron from a proton.

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De Broglie’s electron

. But… De Broglie had no model of the electron.

Louis de Broglie proposed in 1923 that the electron has an internal frequency given by 2hf mc

This frequency gives rise to a wavelength for a moving electron..

/h mv The wave nature of electrons was experimentally confirmed in 1927 by Davisson and Germer.

De Broglie proposed that electron orbits in Bohr’s model of the atom are composed of a whole number of wavelengths.

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Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit’s

Quantized Spinning Electron Model

4 2

hs

But… this spinning electron model was later replaced by a point-like model of the electron carrying an “intrinsic spin”.

In 1925, George Uhlenbeck and Samuel Goudsmit proposed that the electron is an electrically charged particle spinning on its own axis, and whose spin value or angular momentum is given by

Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit

2B

e

m

and its magnetic moment by

1 Bohr magneton

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Heisenberg and SchrodingerFound Quantum Mechanics

Werner Heisenberg Erwin Schrodinger

Matrix Mechanics Wave Mechanics

In 1925, Werner Heisenberg introduced matrix mechanics to describe what is observable about radiation from atoms – light frequencies and intensities.

In 1926, Erwin Schrodinger in introduced wave mechanics to predict the observed energy levels of atoms based on electron wave properties.

The two theories seemed very different, but were shown by Schrodinger to be mathematically equivalent, and both theories came to be called quantum mechanics.

But Heisenberg and Schrodinger each intensely disliked the other’s theory.

Heisenberg rejected all visual models, while Schrodinger’s model of the electron based on his wave theory failed because the model didn’t hold together in space.

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Dirac’s Point-like Electron2 2 2 2 4E p c m c

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12 /mc

1)Dirac assumed that the electron is point-like. The Dirac Equation2) Gives the correct electron spin 3) Gives the nearly correct electron magnetic moment (pre-QED) Predicts the electron’s theoretical Jittery Motion (zitterbewegung): 4) Frequency 5) Amplitude 6) Speed c

7) Predicts the electron’s antiparticle (positron)8) Predicts an electron with a quantum rotational periodicity of 720 degrees or . But… Dirac had no model of the electron to go with his equation.The proposed transluminal energy quantum electron model has all 8 of these properties.

Paul Dirac (1928) derived his relativistic equation for the electronbased on the relativistic particle energy formula .

22 /mc h

/ 2e m

0i mc

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Solvay conference 1927 –“Electrons and Photons”

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Towards the future

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The Transluminal Energy Quantum (TEQ): a new unifying concept for a photon

and an electron

A transluminal energy quantum * is a helically moving point-like object having a

frequency and a wavelength, and carrying energy and momentum.

* can pass through the speed of light.* can generate a photon or an electron depending

on whether the energy quantum’s helical trajectory is open or closed.

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TEQ Model of the Photon

The quantum’s speed along the helical trajectory is 1.414c.

For a photon, the quantum travels a 45-degree helical path.

The quantum is point-like and has energy and momentum but not mass.

The quantum produces an angular momentum (spin) of 1unit and is uncharged.

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Parameters of the TEQ Photon model

c

Photon Parameter Photon Model Parameter

Detected particle Uncharged point-like quantum

Energy Frequency along helix

Momentum Pitch of helix

Spin Radius of helical axis

Polarization left or right Helicity of helix left or right

Speed Longitudinal velocity component

fhf

/ 2h

/ 2

c

/h

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TEQ Model of the Electron

A charged transluminal quantum moves in a closed double-looped helical trajectory with its wavelength equal to one Compton wavelength .

12/ 2.43 10 mC h mc

The Compton wavelength is the wavelength of a photon whose energy is the same as the energy contained in the mass of an electron at rest.

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TEQ Model of the Electron

Red trajectory: quantum is superluminal. Blue trajectory: quantum is subluminal.

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TEQ Model of the Electron

Superluminal (red) and subluminal (blue) portions of electron quantum’s trajectory

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TEQ electron model trajectory: Distance and Time Ratios

• Superluminal distance: 76%• Subluminal distance: 24%

• Superluminal time: 57%• Subluminal time: 43%

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TEQ Model of the Electron

Along the quantum’s trajectory: o The maximum speed is 2.515c . o The minimum speed is 0.707c .

The small circle is the axis of the double-looped helical trajectory.

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Speed of electron's quantum versus distance from z-axis

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TEQ Model of the Electron

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Parameters of the TEQ model of the Electron

Electron TEQ Electron Model Parameter Parameter

1. Mass/energy Compton wavelength

2. Charge Point-like charge

3. Spin Radius of helical axis

4. Magnetic moment Radius of helix

5. Electron or positron Helicity of helix L,R

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2

e

m

/h mce

12 /mc

22 /mc

e

2mc

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Experimental support for the TEQ model of the electron

• Electron Channeling experiment:

P. Catillon et al, A Search for the de Broglie Particle Internal Clock by Means of Electron Channeling, Foundations of Physics (2008) 38: 659–664

• Found experimental evidence for twice the Broglie frequency as an “internal clock” in an electron. The de Broglie frequency is the frequency of a photon of light having the electon’s mass:

De Broglie frequency:

from• The de Broglie frequency, as well as twice this frequency

-- the zitterbewegung (jitter) frequency -- are contained in the TEQ model of the electron.

201.24 10 cycles / secBf 2hf mc

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Electron channeling experiment

From: Gouanere et al, Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Volume 33, no 1-2, 2008

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Electron channeling through silicon – experimental results

From: Catillon et al, Foundations of Physics (2008) 38: 659–664DOI 10.1007/s10701-008-9225-1

The dip in counts at electron momentum 81.1 MeV/c corresponds to an electron clock frequency of two times the de Broglie frequency

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Further Testing the TEQ ModelPredicting the electron’s charge? Another (not superluminal) electron model

with toroidal topology similar to the TEQ electron model predicts the electron’s charge to be about .91e* Can the TEQ model do better?

*Williamson and van der Mark, “Is the electron a photon with toroidal topology?”, p.9, Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Volume 22, no.2, 133 (1997).

Available at http://members.chello.nl/~n.benschop/electron.pdf

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Conclusions

• The transluminal energy quantum (TEQ) models of the photon and the electron contain quantitative experimental and theoretical properties of the electron and the photon based on superluminal and transluminal quantum trajectories.

• While superluminal and transluminal quanta are point-like, the continuous internal structure of photon and electron models generated by the quantum can be modeled and visualized in 3D.

• The model can be subjected to experimental tests using electron channeling through thin crystals.