Internal mechanisms of the annihilation process

The problem

How does annihilation work? What occurs when matter and antimatter annihilate? How does an electron combine with an antielectron (positron) to disappear in a blip of photons? What is the process whereby the photons emerge from annihilation interaction? How, at the fundamental level, does mass-energy equivalence operate? (Mass-energy equivalence is the conversion of matter into energy, and the reciprocal conversion of photons into matter and antimatter, and is quantified by E=mc^2). How can something as substantial as matter be wiped out? Why does annihilation sometimes produce 2 photons, and at other times 3? No-one really knows how annihilation occurs.

A solution from the hidden sector

In our latest paper (10.5539/apr.v6n2p28) we offer an explanation for the annihilation process. This solution uses the Cordus theory, which is a specific non-local hidden-variable design, and is therefore from the hidden sector of fundamental physics (as opposed to quantum mechanics, relativity, or string theory).

This paper explains annihilation as the collapse of the discrete force structures of the electron and antielectron, and their reformation into photon structures.  The process is more one of remanufacture than destruction. The resulting Cordus theory successfully explains para- and ortho-positronium annihilation: the different photons output, the relative difference in lifetimes, and why Bhabha scattering sometimes happens instead.

Curiously, this theory suggests that annihilation is the same class of interaction as pair-creation (nothing new there), and bonding via the strong force. It suggests the mechanisms are common.

For other background reading on annihilation, see Encycl. Britannica, and Wikipedia. One can also represent the inputs and outputs in a simple Feynman diagram. However the difficulty with all these approaches is describing how the annihilation process works. This is where our design offers a solution.

Reference:

Pons DJ, Pons AD, Pons AJ (2014) Annihilation mechanisms. Applied Physics Research 6 (2):28-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/apr.v6n2p28

Neutron stability

Why is  the neutron stable inside the atom, but decays when it is free? Our next paper explores what’s happening in the neutron to cause these effects.

It turns out that the answer, at least when viewed through the cordus lens, is to do with the electric field structures of the neutron. Basically, the neutron does not have a full set of these. This is not a problem when it is inside the atom, because the proton has enough to cover for it. The way the proton and neutron bond together sorts this out.

But when the neutron is free of the atom, then its inadequacies start to show. It has a marginal stability, and eventually something comes along that tips it over the edge and it decays.

We also anticipate what it is that causes that instability. We can also explain why the lifetime of the neutron is an exponential distribution. This part of the paper is really basic, perhaps even pedantic, but it’s important to be clear about what an exponential decay means.

That’s all the paper was originally intended to cover. It was supposed to be the simple closing paper in a bracket of three. But, this being a thought-experiment, we always like to push the ideas to the limit.

Doing so suggests that the neutron decay rates are likely to be variable rather than constant. That is an unorthodox outcome, because these rates are generally believed to be strictly constant. Strangely enough, there is a body of empirical testing that has been done over the years that suggests variable rates, though it is a controversial area of physics (see related articles below). So it is a pleasant surprise to see that the thought-experiment has something  to contribute to the debate in  another indistinct area of physics. So there is a twist at the end of this paper.

Full paper is here at the physics archive vixra:  Stability and decay: Mechanisms for stability and initiators of decay in the neutron

Related articles

• A Brief Review of Nuclear Physics by  Michael Fowler, University of Virginia
• Beta decay, Wikipedia
• Live Chart of Nuclides – Table of Nuclides [Shows whole periodic table, with all nuclides. Interactive]
• Three Types of Radioactive Decay
• Half-life heresy: Accelerating radioactive decay, New Scientist
• Solar ghosts may haunt Earth’s radioactive atoms, New Scientist

Antimatter: the stuff of mystery and mayhem

Image via Wikipedia

Summary: New paper released > Uses cordus concept > Provides conceptual model for annihilation > Based on conjectured internal structure (hidden variables) > Describes internal processes in detail > Covers conversion of Electron and Antielectron into Photons > Full paper on science archive

Annihilation is the process when antimatter meetes matter, and is converted to energy. In the movie ‘Angels & Demons‘, this threat of an antimatter explosion is what drives the plot. Another movie using antimatter, this time for rocket propulsion, was  Star Trek. So the idea of antimatter annihilating and releasing lots of energy has been around a while.

On the more scientific side, we have two main theories about what antimatter consists of : the Dirac and Feynman theories of antimatter. There’s a good overview here: Antimatter.

And it is true that the CERN particle accelerator is making (tiny) amounts of antimatter. See a movie from CERN on the antimatter LHCb experiment… here. The aim is to work out the fundamental constituents of matter.

We all know the Einstein maths: E=mc^2 This tells us that matter can convert into energy, and indeed this is what we see in annihilation. But how exactly does the process work? That’s not something we have good theories about. How does something solid like mass, get converted  into something as unsubstantial and apparently massless as light?  That is a big mystery.

So, what we have done is taken the cordus model for antimatter (see previous post) and develop a model for the annihilation process itself. Yes, it’s tentative, but we can now offer a theory to show exactly how the internal structures of the electron and antielectron (positron) reform to those of the photon.  The paper is on the vixra science archive … here. Have a read: you might be surprised how simple the solution turns out to be.

Related articles

• Electron-positron annihilation, Wikipedia
• Antimatter: Overview of the Dirac and Feynman theories of antimatter, by David M. Harrison
• Antimatter sticks around (physorg.com)
• What is antimatter? (cordus.wordpress.com)