Solar Sail

A heavy photon would certainly help here.

To: EMyrone@aol.com
Sent: 09/07/2013 12:14:15 GMT Daylight Time
Subj: RE: Implications of Heavy Photon Theory

Yes, very exciting and new practical possibilities like the solar sail emerge in an understandable way. When we focus a beam of sunlight with a lens we can now understand why the focused beam generates so much heat. Mass makes all the difference!!

— Original Message —

Subject: Implications of Heavy Photon Theory

These are some of the questions that need to be worked on in the next few months or years. The idea of a photon being the quantum of energy was due to Planck as you know, but the particulate nature was due mainly to de Broglie as you know. As just described in UFT244 the heavy photon can be merged easily with all aspects of the photoelectric effect, but the photon does not “disappear”, it comes to a stop. The quantum nature is unaffected because E = h bar omega is still true. The big changes occur in the solution of the Proca equation, to replace the Yukawa potential by a new idea, because the Yukawa potential with a heavy photon would lead to significant deviations from the Coulomb law, and these deviations are not observed experimentally. A heavy photon must be made compatible with the experimental precision of the Coulomb law and there are many other photon mass experiments to be considered anew. I agree that photon mass means action and reaction are equal and opposite. Heavy photon theory means that any missing mass need no longer be attributed to “dark Matter” . We are right at the beginning of the theory.

To: emyrone@aol.com
Sent: 09/07/2013 11:00:09 GMT Daylight Time
Subj: RE: Heavy Photon Theory

Agreed, and even though in standard physics light is described as being composed of energy alone it has long been known that light strikes objects with a small force (that is, has momentum). A “solar sail”, for example, has been proposed that would push a spacecraft along simply using the pressure of light from the sun. How standard physics, devoid of photon mass, explains this is another one of those mysteries that we are expected to accept without question. Just as we are supposed to accept that light, without mass, can travel at different speeds through different media and mysteriously speed up again on leaving the media (with no explanation of

where the energy necessary for this to occur comes from). These are the most basic of observations that have been left unexplained.

The emergence of the “heavy photon” throws up interesting new questions that need careful thought as you say. In the photoelectric effect, for example, you have described the process on the condenser plate on which the light is incident (conserving energy and momentum). But what happens on the second condenser plate which completes the circuit and on which the emitted electrons are incident. What is the process by which the electrons are “reabsorbed” from free space into the circuit and how is energy and momentum conserved on the second plate? Also, does a new explanation now emerge of the light frequency observation in the photo-electric effect whereby the flow of electrons can be cut off by changing the frequency (colour) of the incident light. When the frequency is dropped below a certain value no electrons are ejected no matter how much the intensity of the light is increased.

Perhaps an even deeper question that emerges is how we now describe charge itself in heavy photon theory. A photon is a particle with no charge. An electron is a particle of similar mass with charge. Conventionally we think of electrons as charge carriers but it seems to me that we actually need to be able to look inside the electron itself now to understand what charge really is. What is the difference between an electron and a heavy photon that results in charge being present or not?

Best, Gareth