Particle Speed Limit...

Hi Jorrie

Thank you for that insight, I will have just have to plod along... yes bizarre, different modes mabe, sorry.

Regards JD.

"It is more like repulsion between space and space..."

Just curious, is there any implication of the quantization of space? There's another (inactive, I guess) thread re how small a particle can be. Is there a "how small a space can be" to go with that?

"Just curious, is there any implication of the quantization of space? "

Yep, the Planck length (~10^-35 m, or ~10^-43 light-seconds). This is the distance light can move in one unit of Planck time.

Jorrie

So there's an apparent limit beneath which no distance can be shorter, no time can be of less duration. Requires some rumination, doesn't it?

This minimum space is also known as "my apartment!"

Right here.

Hi, jdretired,

I've read the Einstein quote several times now, and the more I do, it seems to me that he wasn't making an argument for bringing back the æther. Remember that in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity he was tackling the concept of gravity. Also, remember that the æther was supposed to fill empty space. I think what Einstein was pondering is that "empty space" can be thought of as a sort of æther in itself, meaning that changes in the geometry of space is what makes up gravity. So, he wasn't recanting on the existence of the æther, but, rather, reflecting on the æther-like properties of empty space when influenced by mass.

As far as anti-matter goes, I, too, read the article about anti-matter around neutron stars and black holes. This was one of those articles that was pointing out something that has been known for a long time. Neutron stars and, especially, black holes are both known as prolific sources of Hawking radiation. This is where one of those virtual particle pairs comes into existence. However, before the particle and its anti-matter mate can pull back together and disappear, the particle closest to the black hole gets pulled away from its opposite, leaving it to become a single, new particle in the Universe. If the particle pulled into the black hole is the matter particle, then it's the anti-matter opposite particle that gets set free in the Universe.

As far as what anti-matter is, there is one theory that states that an anti-matter particle, say, an anti-proton, is really a proton that is going backward in time. So all anti-matter is just matter moving in the opposite direction in time! Don't know if this theory is still embraced by physicists or not, though.

One last thing, neutrons always decay into a proton (+), an electron (-), and an anti-neutrino (neutral). The anti-neutrino carries off the extra spin that otherwise would be mysteriously hard to account for. Furthermore, I don't think that the neutrons making up a neutron star are going anywhere in the near future. I think they're pretty much stuck in the star. So I don't think that the neutrons within a neutron star are changing into anti-matter directly.

Hi vermin, you wrote: "Neutron stars and, especially, black holes are both known as prolific sources of Hawking radiation. This is where one of those virtual particle pairs comes into existence."

I have to disagree with you here. Hawking radiation is not a proven concept and has never been observed and AFAIK, neutron stars cannot produce Hawking radiation - they do not have event horizons.

Are you not referring to the normal x-ray radiation due to friction/pressure in the accretion disks and/or particles being flung out in the polar jets? The latter can cause collisions that creates particle-antiparticle pairs - no virtual particles required...

Jorrie

Hi, Jorrie!

Hawking radiation is an unproven concept, but I think its proof may be just around the corner (at least I'm betting). Also, you don't absolutely need an event horizon to create Hawking radiation. All you need is a steep enough differential in the gravitational field. I am assuming (again a bet) that a proper neutron star could produce this differential if the virtual particles appear close enough to the neutron star.

The jets you're talking about I'm sure would create anti-matter. However, the article that we're referring to said that the anti-matter was created in the accretion disk. A bit of Sci-Fi? Possibly.

Hi vermin

I agree, I think that Einstein was referring to an conceptual aid in ones thinking. One such aid was to think of electricity as behaving the same as water. The water in a tower would be considered to have potential energy, voltage, and the flow current. I was thinking about my remark tunnelling, like water passing through a pipe. But I realise there is another twist to it, do electrons travel in a conductor like water or do they behave like photons, when a electron enters the shell of an adjoining atom does it flow to the next atom or does the incoming electron cause a local electron to be ejected, like from a pitcher to catcher? Is there any consensus on this?

Regards JD.

Hi jd,

You asked "when a electron enters the shell of an adjoining atom does it flow to the next atom or does the incoming electron cause a local electron to be ejected, like from a pitcher to catcher?"

Just 2 cents worth from Wiki on how electrons move about (or along):

"In solid conductive metal, a large population of electrons are mobile or free electrons. These electrons are bound to the metal lattice but not to any individual atom. Even without an external electric field applied, these electrons move about randomly due to thermal energy but on average, there is zero net current within the metal. Given an imaginary plane through which the wire passes, the number of electrons moving from one side to the other in any period of time is exactly equal to the number passing in the opposite direction.

When a metal wire is connected across the two terminals of a DC voltage source such as a battery, the source places an electric field across the conductor. The moment contact is made, the free electrons of the conductor are forced to drift toward the positive terminal under the influence of this field."

-John

Hi John

I must not be so mean with my money? and not be so lazy. I fell for oldest one in the book, Did you check. Getting too old.

Regards JD.

jdretired,

Johnjohn's answer is a good one!

Hi john

Yes your answer was appreciated, Just some remarks about myself. Have always appreciated your input.

Regards JD.