Evidence from the Special Relativity and Blackbody Radiation Theories for the Existence of Photons Possessing Zero Kinetic Energy

The traditional interpretation of radiative emission and absorption asserts that photons are created and annihilated in such processes. A Gedanken experiment is considered in which kinetic energy from observed photons is systematically removed until a limit of zero is reached. With the help of the relativistic Doppler effect it is shown that even for infinitesimally small kinetic energies the photons continue to exist, since in other inertial systems they will be observed to have a much higher energy/frequency falling in an easily detectable range. It is possible to formulate an alternative explanation for absorption and emission processes on this basis in terms of real photons with exactly zero kinetic energy being present before or after radiative interactions. Bolstering this hypothesis is the fact that the statistical mechanical treatment of photons interacting with oscillators in blackbody radiation theory predicts an infinite density of photons of this energy, both in the original Planck formulation employing Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics and in the subsequent Bose-Einstein description. These considerations demonstrate that the E = 0 state is greatly preferred as the product of absorption because of the requirement to have the interaction occur in a relatively narrow region of space- time. There is thus strong evidence that photons are not created and annihilated in radiative processes but simply have their kinetic energy changed either to or from a zero value. Accordingly a very high density of zero-energy photons is expected to exist uniformly throughout the universe. Finally, this development suggests that one should subject the creation-annihilation hypothesis to careful scrutiny in other areas of physics as well.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure

Stability of Gravitational and Electromagnetic Geons

Recent work on gravitational geons is extended to examine the stability properties of gravitational and electromagnetic geon constructs. All types of geons must possess the property of regularity, self-consistency and quasi-stability on a time-scale much longer than the period of the comprising waves. Standard perturbation theory, modified to accommodate time-averaged fields, is used to test the requirement of quasi-stability. It is found that the modified perturbation theory results in an internal inconsistency. The time-scale of evolution is found to be of the same order in magnitude as the period of the comprising waves. This contradicts the requirement of slow evolution. Thus not all of the requirements for the existence of electromagnetic or gravitational geons are met though perturbation theory. From this result it cannot be concluded that an electromagnetic or a gravitational geon is a viable entity. The broader implications of the result are discussed with particular reference to the problem of gravitational energy.Comment: 40 pages, 5 EPS figures, uses overcite.st

Fast and reasonable Installation, Experience and Acceptance of a Remote Control Room

Remote control systems are becoming more and more important to give us the flexibility to control facilities, provide assistance and intervene in case of problems at any time and from every place. As a global operating group CALICE [2] with approx. 220 members worldwide is dependent on using a remote control system for shifts and monitoring of the data taking. CALICE has at present installed its detector at Fermilab, Chicago, where will run test beam experiments for the next year. The components of the remote control system and kind of use are presented here.Comment: 4 page

Weak Interactions Effect on the P-N Mass Splitting and the Principle of Equivalence

The weak interaction contribution to the proton neutron mass difference is computed using a generalization of Cottingham's formula. When included in the analysis of the Eotvos experiment, this contribution reduces the bound on a possible weak interactions violation to the equivalence principle by one order of magnitude.Comment: LaTex, 12 pages, 2 tables. A shorter version appeared in proceedings of Zacatecas 2001 Workshop on Particles and Fields. References added, typos correcte

Using conceptual metaphor and functional grammar to explore how language used in physics affects student learning

This paper introduces a theory about the role of language in learning physics. The theory is developed in the context of physics students' and physicists' talking and writing about the subject of quantum mechanics. We found that physicists' language encodes different varieties of analogical models through the use of grammar and conceptual metaphor. We hypothesize that students categorize concepts into ontological categories based on the grammatical structure of physicists' language. We also hypothesize that students over-extend and misapply conceptual metaphors in physicists' speech and writing. Using our theory, we will show how, in some cases, we can explain student difficulties in quantum mechanics as difficulties with language.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. ST:PE

Magnetic operations: a little fuzzy physics?

We examine the behaviour of charged particles in homogeneous, constant and/or oscillating magnetic fields in the non-relativistic approximation. A special role of the geometric center of the particle trajectory is elucidated. In quantum case it becomes a 'fuzzy point' with non-commuting coordinates, an element of non-commutative geometry which enters into the traditional control problems. We show that its application extends beyond the usually considered time independent magnetic fields of the quantum Hall effect. Some simple cases of magnetic control by oscillating fields lead to the stability maps differing from the traditional Strutt diagram.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure