dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaExponentially Damped Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian for the Description of Positronium Decay and Other High-energy Processes
| Authors | Robert J. Buenker |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0504070 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0504070 |
| DOI | 10.1080/00268979200103021 |
| Journal | Molec. Phys. 77, 1095 (1992) |
Abstract
The conventional explanation for the 1.022 MeV decay of positronium in terms of the annihilation of an electron and its antiparticle is questioned because of the impossibility of proving experimentally that matter actually disappears. Recent work has provided evidence that photons are not destroyed in radiative absorption, for example, but rather attain an undetectable (E=h(nu)=0) state. Questioning the creation-annihilation hypothesis in the case of positronium decay leads to the construction of an exponentially damped Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian which when employed in a Schroedinger equation gives an e+e- ground state with a binding energy of 1.022 MeV. The analogous treatment does not produce any (unobserved) states of similarly low energy for the hydrogen atom, but by virtue of a simple scaling theorem it does lead to a maximal proton-antiproton binding energy of 1.876 GeV, which is exactly mp/me times larger than for e+e-. Arguments are presented to identify the resulting tightly bound e+ e- system with the photon itself, since both are ascribed a zero rest mass. The above Hamiltonian is identified with the unified electroweak interaction, especially since it also proves applicable to the description of neutrino processes. It is pointed out that the analogous (nu)(bar nu) binary systems would be subject to predissociation into free neutrinos and antineutrinos, however, unlike their much more strongly bound e+ e- and p+ p- counterparts. This observation suggests a different explanation for the well-known solar neutrino problem than the flavor-oscillation theory which has been proposed earlier.
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"abstract": "The conventional explanation for the 1.022 MeV decay of positronium in terms\nof the annihilation of an electron and its antiparticle is questioned because\nof the impossibility of proving experimentally that matter actually disappears.\nRecent work has provided evidence that photons are not destroyed in radiative\nabsorption, for example, but rather attain an undetectable (E=h(nu)=0) state.\nQuestioning the creation-annihilation hypothesis in the case of positronium\ndecay leads to the construction of an exponentially damped Breit-Pauli\nHamiltonian which when employed in a Schroedinger equation gives an e+e- ground\nstate with a binding energy of 1.022 MeV. The analogous treatment does not\nproduce any (unobserved) states of similarly low energy for the hydrogen atom,\nbut by virtue of a simple scaling theorem it does lead to a maximal\nproton-antiproton binding energy of 1.876 GeV, which is exactly mp/me times\nlarger than for e+e-. Arguments are presented to identify the resulting tightly\nbound e+ e- system with the photon itself, since both are ascribed a zero rest\nmass. The above Hamiltonian is identified with the unified electroweak\ninteraction, especially since it also proves applicable to the description of\nneutrino processes. It is pointed out that the analogous (nu)(bar nu) binary\nsystems would be subject to predissociation into free neutrinos and\nantineutrinos, however, unlike their much more strongly bound e+ e- and p+ p-\ncounterparts. This observation suggests a different explanation for the\nwell-known solar neutrino problem than the flavor-oscillation theory which has\nbeen proposed earlier.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0504070",
"authors": [
"Robert J. Buenker"
],
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"doi": "10.1080/00268979200103021",
"journal_ref": "Molec. Phys. 77, 1095 (1992)",
"title": "Exponentially Damped Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian for the Description of Positronium Decay and Other High-energy Processes",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0504070"
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