Is Matter Made of Light? Superluminal Quantum Models of the Photon and the Electron

1. Richard Gauthier Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Best, The Netherlands March 29-April 2, 2009 www.superluminalquantum.org Is Matter Made of Light?Superluminal Quantum Models of the Photon and the Electron

2. What exactly is a quantum (or a photon or an electron)? A Brief History of the Quantum

3. 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.

4. 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 didn’t introduce the term “quantum”. But… Thompson had no model of the electron.

5. 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 = radiation energy emitted or absorbed by a material oscillator f = the frequency of vibration of the oscillator h is Planck’s constant Blackbody spectrum of light at different temperatures

6. Einstein’s “light quantum” Albert Einstein proposed in 1905 that a corpuscle of light (‘light quantum”, later named a photon) has an energy given by E = energy of light quantum f = frequency of light quantum h = Planck’s constant He also proposed that a particle of matter like the electron contains an amount of energy given by E = energy contained in a a mass m = the quantity of mass c = the speed of light . But… Einstein had no model of the photon or the electron .

7. Rutherford’s model of the atom 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 orbited the nucleus. . But… Rutherford had no model of the electron.

8. Bohr’s planetary model of the atom 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 . But… Bohr had no model of the photon or the electron .

9. Parson’s Magneton or Toroidal Ring Model of the Atom and the Electron 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 "magnetic electron", "plasmoid ring", "vortex ring", or "helicon ring". Parson’s magneton model for chemical bonding and electron sharing influenced chemist Gilbert N. Lewis (who coined the name “photon” in 1926) 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. Helical and toroidal models of the electron have taken several forms up to the present day, though none has been scientifically accepted.

10. De Broglie’s electron Louis de Broglie proposed in 1923 that the electron has a frequency given by This frequency gives rise to a wavelength for a moving electron.. 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. . But… De Broglie had no model of the electron.

11. Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit’s Quantized Spinning Electron Model Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit 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 and its magnetic moment by 1 Bohr magneton But… this spinning electron model was later replaced by a point-like model of the electron carrying an “intrinsic spin”.

12. Heisenberg and Schrodinger Found Quantum Mechanics Erwin Schrodinger Werner Heisenberg Wave Mechanics Matrix 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.

13. Dirac’s Point-like Electron Paul Dirac (1928) derived his relativistic equation for the electron based on the relativistic particle energy formula . • 1)Dirac assumed that the electron is point-like. • The Dirac Equation • 2) 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 quantum model of the electron has all 8 of these properties.

14. Solvay conference 1927 –“Electrons and Photons”

15. 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.

16. TEQ Model of the Photon For a photon, the quantum travels a 45-degree helical path. The quantum’s speed along the helical trajectory is 1.414c. The quantum produces an angular momentum (spin) of 1unit and is uncharged. The quantum is point-like and has energy and momentum but not mass.

17. Parameters of the Photon model Photon Parameter Photon Model Parameter Detected particle Uncharged point-like quantum Energy Angular 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

18. Trajectory Equations for Quantum Model of a Photon

19. Heisenberg Uncertainty Relations and the Superluminal Photon Model TheHeisenberg position-momentum uncertaintyrelations: The superluminal quantum’s position-momentum relations: and The photon model’s transverse coordinates are at the exact limit of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation.

20. 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 . 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.

21. Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron Red trajectory: quantum is superluminal. Blue trajectory: quantum is subluminal.

22. Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron

23. Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron Equations of the transluminal quantum’s trajectory - a closed, double-looped helix

24. Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron Superluminal (red)and subluminal (blue) portions of electron quantum’s trajectory

25. Electron Quantum’s Trajectory: Distance and Time Ratios • Superluminal distance: 76% • Subluminal distance: 24% • Superluminal time: 57% • Subluminal time: 43%

26. Transluminal Quantum 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.

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

31. Heisenberg Uncertainty Relationsand the Electron Model • Electron model’s x and y coordinates: • Heisenberg uncertainty relations: ->The electron model is under the ‘radar’ of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation.

32. Parameters of the Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron Electron Electron Model Parameter Parameter • Mass/energy Compton wavelength • Charge Point-like charge • Spin Radius of helical axis • Magnetic moment Radius of helix • Electron or positron Helicity of helix L,R

33. Dirac Equation Properties of the Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron 1. Spin 2. Magnetic moment 3. Anti-particle predicted -- Positron model is mirror image of electron model

34. Dirac Equation’s“Jittery Motion” Properties of the Transluminal Quantum Model of the Electron 1. Zitterbewegung speed of electron (eigenvalue of Dirac equation for free electron): Longitudinal component of speed of electron’s quantum along circular axis. 2. Zitterbewegung angular frequency: Electron model angular frequency in x-y plane 3. Zitterbewegung amplitude: Root mean square size of electron quantum’s trajectory:

35. Inertia and the Electron Model The electron’s inertiamay be related to the electron model’s internally circulating momentum • The electron model’s internal circulating momentum in the x-y plane is . • The relativistic equation for mass-energy is • This can be rewritten as • Which means that may cause the electron’s inertia or ‘momentum at rest’ within the electron, corresponding to the electron’s external momentum

36. Is the transluminal quantum a virtual particle? A virtual particle (introduced in quantum electrodynamics or QED) is not directly detectable because it is beneath the ‘radar range’ of the Heisenberg Uncertainty relations. • Virtual photons exchanged between electric charges cause the charges to attract or repel and produce Coulomb’s force law. • Virtual electron-positron pairs surround a “bare” electric point charge and partly screen its electric field to yield the measured value of the electron’s charge. This is called vacuum polarization. • Virtual photons and virtual electron-positron pairs contribute to calculating the electron’s magnetic moment. The theoretical result matches the experimental value extremely precisely (1part in 10^10) The transluminal quantum is at or below the “radar range” of the Heisenberg Uncertainty relations • While possibly not directly detectable, it may be the cause of observable particle properties such as the electron’s mass, charge, spin and magnetic moment.

37. 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.

38. Electron channeling experiment From: Gouanere et al, Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Volume 33, no 1-2, 2008

39. Electron channeling through silicon – experimental results The dip in counts at electron momentum 81.1 MeV/c corresponds to an electron clock frequency of two times the de Broglie frequency From: Catillon et al, Foundations of Physics (2008) 38: 659–664 DOI 10.1007/s10701-008-9225-1

40. Conclusions • The superluminal quantum models of the electron and the photon 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.