What is Matter ?

Part 2

Spacetime Model

 
 

What is Matter ?
Nature of Particles

We know of about 300 elementary particles. Among those, physicists have favoured the electron, and its antiparticle the positron. We have also chosen these two particles to continue our research on the knowledge of matter. We will see in Part 3 that quarks are also made of electrons and positrons.

This chapter synthesizes the preceding webpages by five deductions that always lead to the same conclusions: particles are areas of spacetime.




 

1 - Wave-Particle Duality

The first demonstration is made by the explanation of the wave-particle duality given at the begining of this website.

This explanation states that particles, waves and medium have the same constitution. It is a necessity. Since the only medium that we know to date is spacetime, particles and waves are necessarily made of spacetime. There is no other solutions.



 

2 - Electron-positron annihilation

We have studied, in the previous webpage, the annihilation of an electron and a positron. Since the result of annihilation, i.e. two gammas of 511 KeV, is a movement in spacetime, the origin, or the electron and the positron, is made up of spacetime too.

This experimentation is a simple conversion from spacetime (particles) to spacetime (gammas), in accordance with the wave-particle duality explanation.



 

3 - Electron-positron pairs production

When a high-energy gamma passes near a nucleus or any charged particle, it can decay into an electron-positron pair. This phenomenon is explained below with a nucleus.

The positive Coulomb Field of the nucleus attracts the negative areas of the EM wave and pushes back the positive areas, namely the areas of low and high density of spacetime. Thus, the wave decays in two parts. These two "pieces of wave" are electron-positron pairs.

Electron-positron- 16

Obviously, it is impossible to create particles from nothing. The electron and positron come from somewhere, and this "somewhere" can only be the original EM wave, i.e. spacetime vibrations. So, since the original EM wave is made up of spacetime, the electron and the positron are necessarily made up of spacetime too, in accordance with the first law of the wave-particle duality.

We can deduce that:

Electron-positron - 17


 

4 - De Broglie Waves

In 1924, Louis De Broglie (Nobel Prize - 1929) had the idea that any particles could have an associated wave similar to the EM wave. For De Broglie, all kinds of waves have a comparable constitution. The experimentations of Davisson (Nobel Prize - 1937) and Germer in 1927 confirmed De Broglie's theory.

So:

  • Particles and matter waves are of the same constitution (first law of duality),
  • Matter waves(*) and EM waves and are of comparable constitution (De Broglie).

By association, we deduce that particles have the same constitution as EM waves, i.e. spacetime.


(*) For more information, please see Part 3 (quarks) and Part 4 (waves and photons).



 

5 - Coulomb's Force

Let's return to the preceding chapter to identify this force in spacetime that brings closer the two areas A and B until their complete annihilation? We have four possibilities:

  1. Gravity?
    Here, we do not have an annihilation if the two areas have the same polarity. Since gravity disregards polarity, this unknown force is not gravity.
  2. The strong nuclear force?
    In this website, we never mentioned nuclei or quarks. Thus, this unknown force cannot be the strong nuclear force. Anyway, the strong nuclear force disregards polarity.
  3. The weak nuclear force?
    In this website, it is not a question of interactions with bosons Z0, W+ or W-. Therefore, the above interactions do not concern the weak force (However, since the polarity is taken into account in the weak nuclear force, the latter force must not be excluded).
  4. The EM force?
    By elimination, it remains the EM force. More precisely, our demonstration concerns the EM part of the electroweak force.

We deduce that the unknown force discussed in the preceding webpages is the Coulomb component of EM force (*). This conclusion seems logical since the two areas, A and B, are "pieces of EM waves", which are related to EM force. Moreover, the Coulomb Force take into account polarity.

Since these two areas are "pieces" of an EM wave, i.e. spacetime, we naturally conclude that the particles are made up of spacetime.


(*) Part 4, waves and photons, covers the magnetic component of the EM force.



 

Einstein's point of view

Let's note this remark by Einstein, which tends to confirm our deductions: "Matter cannot exist without spacetime".

Thus, the proposed theory is far from being unrealistic since, in the 1920s, this great physicist thought that matter was directly connected to spacetime.




 

Conclusions

Electron-positron - 19

Or, in other words:

Electron-positron - 18