CHAPTER 26
Atom Building
Several chapters of Volume I were devoted to tracing the path followed by the matter that is ejected into the material sector of the universe from the inverse, or cosmic, sector in the form of cosmic rays. As brought out there, the cosmic atoms that constitute the cosmic rays, three-dimensional rotational combinations with net speeds greater than unity, are broken down into massless particles; that is, particles with effective rotation in less than three dimensions. These particles are then reassembled into material atoms, three-dimensional rotational combinations with net speeds less than unity. The processes by which this rebuilding is accomplished have not yet been observed, nor has the applicable theory been fully clarified. It was stated in the earlier volume that our conclusions in this area were necessarily somewhat speculative. Additional theoretical development in the meantime has placed these conclusions on a much firmer basis, and it would now be in order to call them tentative rather than speculative.
As brought out in Chapter 25, the currently prevailing opinion is that atom building is carried on by means of addition processes of the type discussed in that chapter. For the reasons that were specified, we find it necessary to reject that conclusion, and to characterize these processes, to the extent that they actually occur, as minor and incidental activities that have no significant influence on the general evolutionary pattern in the material sector of the universe. However, as noted in the earlier discussion, there is one addition process that actually does occur on a large enough scale to justify giving it some consideration before we turn our attention to broadening the scope of the explanation of the atom building process introduced in Volume I. This addition process that we will now want to examine is what is known as “neutron capture.”
The observed particle known as the “neutron” is the one that we have identified as the compound neutron. It has the same type of structure as the mass one hydrogen isotope; that is, it is a double rotating system with a proton type rotation in one component and a neutrino type rotation in the other. In the hydrogen isotope the neutrino rotation has the material composition M ½-½-(1). In the compound neutron it has the cosmic composition C (½)-(½)-1. The net displacements of this particle are M ½-½-0, the same as those of the massless neutron. The compound neutron is fully compatible with the basic magnetic (two-dimensional) rotational displacement of the atoms, and since it carries no electric charge it can penetrate to the vicinity of an atom much more easily than the particles that normally interact in the charged condition. Consequently, the compound neutrons are readily absorbed by atoms. On first consideration, therefore, neutron capture would appear to be a likely candidate for designation as the primary atom building process. Nevertheless, the physicists relegate it to a minor role. The prevailing downgrading of the potential of neutron capture is mainly due to the physicists’ commitment to other processes that they believe to be responsible for the energy production in the stars. If, as now believed, the continuing additions to the atomic masses are made as a collateral feature of the stellar energy production processes, neutron capture can have only a limited significance. Some support for this conclusion is derived from the finding that there is no stable isotope of mass 5. As the textbooks point out, the neutron capture process would come to a stop at this point.
In the universe of motion this argument is invalid. As we saw in Chapter 24, isotopic stability is determined by the level of magnetic ionization. The lack of a stable isotope of mass 5 is peculiar to the unit ionization level, the level that happens to exist at the surface of the earth at the present time. In earlier eras, when the magnetic ionization level was lower, the obstacle at mass 5 was absent, or at least not fully effective, and in the future when the ionization level has risen, this obstacle will again be minimized or removed.
We must nevertheless concur with the prevailing opinion that neutron capture is not the primary atom building process, because even though the mass 5 obstacle can be circumvented, there are not anywhere near enough of the compound neutrons to take care of the atom building requirements. These particles are produced in limited quantities in reactions of a special nature. Atom building, on the other hand, is an activity of vast proportions that is going on continuously in all parts of the universe. The compound neutron is actually a very special kind of combination of motions. The reason for its existence is that there are some physical circumstances under which two-dimensional rotation is ejected from matter. In the material atoms the two-dimensional rotation is associated with mass because of the way in which it is incorporated into the atomic structure. There is no way in which this mass can be given up, because the process by which it originated, bringing a massless particle to rest in the fixed spatial reference system, is irreversible. The two-dimensional speed displacement is therefore forced into the only available alternative, the compound neutron structure, even though this structure is inherently one of low probability.
Let us turn now to the process which, according to the findings reported in Volume I, is, in fact, the primary means whereby atom building is actually accomplished. As brought out in that earlier discussion, the principal product of the decay of cosmic atoms, the original constituents of the cosmic rays, is the massless neutron, M ½-½-0. This particle can combine with an electron, M 0-0-(1), or eject a positron, M 0-0-1, to form a neutrino, M ½-½-(1). On the basis of the principles governing the combination of motions, as defined in Volume I, simple combinations of motions do not produce stable structures unless the added motion has some characteristic opposed to that of the original. However, this restriction does not apply to a combination with a neutrino, as this particle has a net total speed displacement of zero, and the added motion is therefore the only active unit in the combination. Thus a massless neutron can be added to a neutrino. Some significant consequences ensue.
All massless particles are moving outward at the speed of light (unit speed) relative to the conventional spatial reference system. But when the neutrino, M ½-½-(1), combines with the massless neutron, M ½-½-0, the displacements of the combination are M 1-1-(1), which means that the combination has an active inward two-dimensional rotational displacement in a three-dimensional type of structure. The addition of inward motion in the third scalar dimension brings the consolidated particle to rest in the spatial reference system. The results of this sequence of events were described in Volume I. As noted there, although the massless neutron and the neutrino have no effective mass, they do have the two-dimensional analog, t2/s2, of the three-dimensional property, t3/s3, that is known as mass. When one of these particles, moving at the speed of light relative to the spatial reference system comes to rest in the gravitationally bound system represented by the reference coordinates, the unit translational speed thereby eliminated provides the necessary energy, t/s, to convert the two-dimensional quantity, the internal momentum, as we have called it, to the three-dimensional quantity, mass.
The product of this process, with rotational displacements 1-1-(1) and a mass of one atomic weight unit, is the proton. In conventional physics the proton is regarded as a positively* charged particle that constitutes the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. We find that it is, in fact, a particle, which may or may not carry a positive* electric charge. We also find that as a particular kind of motion (not as a particle) it is a constituent of the hydrogen atom. It is not, however, a “nucleus.” The mass one hydrogen isotope is a double rotating system in which the proton type of motion is combined with a motion of the neutrino type. The atom is formed by direct combination of the proton and the neutrino, but the existence of the particles as particles terminates when the combination takes place. At this point the motions that previously constituted the particles become constituent motions of the combination structure, the atom.
This is an appropriate point at which to make some general comments about the successive combinations of different types of motions that are the essence of the atom building process. The key to an understanding of this situation is a recognition of the fact that these are scalar motions. The only inherent property of a scalar motion is its positive or negative magnitude, and the representation of that magnitude in the spatial reference system is subject to change in accordance with the conditions prevailing in the environment. The same scalar motion can be either translational, rotational, vibrational, or a rotational vibration, and it is free to switch from one of these to another to conform to changed conditions. Such a change is a zero energy process, as previously defined, merely a rearrangement.
This is the same kind of a situation that we encountered in Chapter 17 in connection with ionization. As noted there, ionization of a particle can take place by means of any one of a number of different processes—absorption of radiant energy, capture of electrons, contact with fast moving particles, etc. Since the motions that are involved are of different types, it might appear that we are confronted with a difficult problem when we attempt to explain these processes as interchange of motions. But the situation is simple when it is viewed in scalar terms. The only inherent property of these scalar motions—the vibratory photon motion, the rotational electron motion, the translational motion of the atom or particle—is the magnitude. It follows that the magnitude is the only property that is necessarily transmitted unchanged in an interaction. The coupling to the reference system that distinguishes the photon from the electron, or from translational motion, is free to conform to the new environment. In ionization it takes the form of a rotational vibration, regardless of the type of the antecedent motion.
Production of the hydrogen atom in the manner described in the preceding pages terminates the role of the direct addition processes in atom building. The essential step in this process is to bring the massless neutrons from their normal motion at the speed of light (stationary in the natural reference system) to a condition of rest in the fixed spatial reference system. As pointed out in Volume I, this requires the existence of rotational motion in all three scalar dimensions, since the particle is capable of moving at the speed of light (relative to the spatial reference system) in any vacant dimension. The massless neutron does not have the necessary three dimensions of motion, but combination with the neutrino provides the required addition to the neutron dimensions. This combination, 1-1-(1), has a net total three-dimensional rotational displacement (mass) of one unit.
The 1-1-(1) particle, the proton, thus produced cannot accept another massless neutron because of the two-dimensional nature of that particle. Nor can it accept a combination of the massless neutron with a neutrino, as that combination constitutes another proton, and consolidation of two protons is subject to the opposing factors previously considered in connection with the direct combination of atoms. Beyond the mass one hydrogen stage, therefore, atom building takes place mainly by means of an ionization process that we will now consider.
The neutrinos in the decay products of the cosmic rays are subject to contacts with other particles, particularly photons of radiation. Some of these contacts result in magnetic ionization; that is, a two-dimensional rotational vibration is imparted to the neutrino. Since this is a one-unit displacement in opposition to the one unit of two-dimensional rotational displacement in the neutrino, the resultant net rotational displacement in these two dimensions is zero. As can readily be seen, such a charge could not be applied to a massless neutron. This particle already has zero displacement in the electric dimension, and if the one unit in the magnetic dimensions is neutralized the particle would have no effective speed displacement, and would be reduced to the status of the rotational base, the rotational equivalent of nothing at all. At the primitive level magnetic ionization is therefore confined to the neutrino.
The magnetic ionization process was discussed at length in Chapters 24 and 25, and the steps through which the original ionization of the neutrinos is passed on to the atoms were described in considerable detail. At this time we will take a look at the mass relations, with the objective of demonstrating that the process by which mass is added during the events previously described is irreversible (up to the destructive limits defined in Chapter 25), and that magnetic ionization is therefore an atom-building process of such broad scope that it is clearly the predominant means of accomplishing the formation of the heavier elements.
As explained previously, since the magnetically charged neutrino has no active speed displacement other than the one negative unit in the electric dimension, it is, in effect, a rotating unit of space vibrating in the magnetic dimensions. A material atom, which is a time structure (net displacement in time), can exist in this space of the neutrino just as in any other space. Such an atom is continually moving from one space unit to another. If it enters the space of a neutrino, the rotational vibration of the space unit (the neutrino) is equivalent to, and in equilibrium with, a similar, but oppositely directed, rotational vibration of the atom. When the atom again passes into another space unit it is a matter of chance whether the vibration goes with it, or is left with the space unit (the neutrino). Thus some of the magnetic charges originally imparted to the neutrinos in a material aggregate are transferred from the neutrinos to the atoms.
Neutrinos, whether charged or uncharged, move at unit speed relative to the spatial reference system, and their occasional periods of coincidence with atoms of matter are possible only because of the finite magnitude of the units of space and time. If the magnetic charge stays with the atom when the atom and neutrino separate, the charge, which is moving at unit speed while it is associated with the neutrino, is brought to rest in the spatial reference system. Elimination of the unit of outward speed provides the unit of displacement required for the addition of rotation in the third scalar dimension and enables the unit of magnetic (two-dimensional) speed displacement to be absorbed by the atom. Inasmuch as this unit that is absorbed has only half the mass of the full rotational unit, and has no rotation at all in the third dimension, it enters the atom as a unit of vibrational mass. If this puts the isotopic weight of the atom outside the zone of stability, some of the vibrational mass is converted to rotational mass in the manner previously described, moving the atom to a position higher in the atomic series.
The transition from the massless state (stationary in the natural reference system) to the material status cannot be reversed in the material environment, as there is no available process for going directly from rotation to translation. The sub-atomic particles are subject to neutralization reactions in which oppositely directed rotations cancel each other, causing their speed displacements to revert to the translational status. But direct combination of two multi-unit atoms is difficult to accomplish. Because of the reversed direction of the forces in the time region, there is a strong force of repulsion between two such structures when they approach each other. Furthermore, each atom is a combination of motions in different scalar dimensions, and even if two atoms acquire sufficient relative speed to overcome the resistance and make effective contact, they cannot join unless the displacements in the different dimensions reach the proper conditions for combination simultaneously. With few, if any, exceptions, the additions to the masses of the atoms are therefore permanent (up to the time that one of the destructive limits is reached).
Here, then, the first application of this atom building process is complete. By means of the successive steps that have been identified, the magnetic rotational speed displacement of the massless neutron produced by cosmic ray decay (the only active property of that particle) is converted into an addition to the mass of an atom. Successive additions of the same kind move the atom up the atomic series.
Atom building in intergalactic space is slow because of the low density of matter, but the amount of time spent in this stage is so long that there is sufficient opportunity for production of a finite quantity of all of the117 possible elements, in proportions determined by the relative probabilities. After this initial period, the existing matter is increasingly concentrated into large aggregates. This speeds up the atom building, but meanwhile there are processes in operation that destroy some of the heavier elements.
A significant aspect of the theoretical findings reported in this and the immediately preceding chapters is the important role of the massless particles, entities which, with the exception of the photon and the neutrino, are not recognized by conventional science. As brought out in the discussion earlier in this chapter, the characteristic feature of these particles is that they have no capability of independent motion, and are therefore stationary in the natural system of reference. It follows that they are moving at unit speed (the speed of light) in the context of the conventional spatial reference system.
According to our findings, there are three categories of material particles (combinations of motions without enough rotational displacement to form the atomic type of structure). These are (1) massless particles, (2) similar particles that have acquired mass, and (3) particles with structures intermediate between those of class (2) and the full atomic structure. Table 36 lists the sub-atomic particles of the material sector.
The mass one hydrogen isotope is included in this list because of its intermediate type structure, although it is generally regarded as a full scale atom. Electric charges that may be present are not shown, except in the case of the one-dimensional charged particles, where they provide the rotational vibration that brings these particles into the gravitationally bound system. Charges applied to other particles in the list have no significant effect on the phenomena now being considered.
An exact duplicate of the Table36 list exists in the cosmic sector, with the speed displacements inverted. In this case the particles are built on the cosmic rotational base, represented as C 0-0-0, rather than the material rotational base, M 0-0-0. The particles not listed in Table35 that the physicists claim to have discovered—mesons, etc.—are combinations of the cosmic type, either particles from the cosmic sub-atomic list, or full-sized cosmic atoms (where the presumed discoveries are authentic). It is even possible that some of the events of extremely short duration attributed to transient particles may be originated by cosmic chemical compounds.
Recognition of the place of the massless particles in the evolutionary pattern of matter is one of the advances in understanding that has given us the present consistent, and apparently correct, explanation of the transition from cosmic to material (and vice versa). The 1959 publication identified the cyclic nature of the universe, and gave an account of the manner in which the transitions between sectors take place. At that time, however, the existence of the massless particles had not yet been discovered theoretically, and the particle now identified as the compound neutron was thought to be the intermediary by means of which inter-sector transfer is accomplished. When it was finally realized that the theory requires the existence of a massless neutron, the door to a new understanding of the transition process was opened. It then became evident that the transition is not directly from cosmic to material, but from cosmic (moving inward in time) to neutral (no motion relative to the natural reference system), and then to material (moving inward in space).
This finding revolutionized our concept of the position of the massless particles in the physical picture. It can now be seen that these particles—the neutrino (known to conventional science), the massless electron and massless positron (previously identified as the moving particles in electric currents), the massless neutron, the rotational base, and the gravitationally charged neutrino (discovered theoretically)—are the constituents of a hitherto unknown subdivision of physical existence, a neutral state of the basic units of matter, intermediate between the states of the cosmic and material sectors.
Inasmuch as the atom building process operates by means of successive additions of single units, the relative proportions of the various elements in a material aggregate are directly related to the age of the matter, and inversely related to the atomic number. However, there are a number of collateral factors that modify the basic relations. As we have seen, production of the mass one isotope of hydrogen is a relatively simple matter, involving nothing more than a union of two simple particles. The next step is more difficult because it requires the formation of a double system in which there are effective rotational displacements in both components. The great majority of the material atoms are therefore still in the hydrogen stage. The first full double system, helium, atomic number 2, is in second place, as would be expected. Beyond this level, the atomic rotation becomes more complex, and factors other than the required number of additions of mass units introduce numerous irregularities into what would otherwise be a regular decrease of abundance with atomic number.
Evidently a single addition to the atomic rotation introduces a degree of asymmetry that decreases stability, as the even-numbered elements are generally more abundant than the odd-numbered ones. For instance, the ten most abundant elements beyond hydrogen in the earth’s crust include seven even-numbered elements, and only three with odd atomic numbers. The zone of isotopic stability is likewise wider in the even-numbered than in the odd-numbered elements, as would be expected if they are inherently more stable. Many of the odd-numbered group have only one stable isotope, and there are five within the 117 element range of the terrestrial environment that have no stable isotope at all (in that environment). On the other hand, no even-numbered element, other than beryllium, has less than two stable isotopes.
The same kind of symmetry effect can be seen in the first additions of rotation in the magnetic dimensions. The positive elements of Group 2A, lithium, beryllium, and boron, are relatively scarce, while the corresponding members of group 2B, sodium, magnesium, and aluminum, are relatively abundant. At higher levels this effect is not apparent, probably because the successive additions to these heavier elements are smaller in proportion to the total mass, while the effects of other factors become more significant.
One of the features of the rotational patterns of the elements that introduces variations in their susceptibility to the addition of mass, and corresponding variations in the proportions in which the different elements occur in material aggregates, is the change in the magnetic rotation that takes place at the midpoint of each rotational group. For example, let us again consider the 2B group of elements. The first three of these elements are formed by successive additions of positive electric displacement to the 2-2 magnetic rotation. Silicon, the next element, is produced by a similar addition, and the probability of its formation does not differ materially from that of the three preceding elements. Another such addition, however, would bring the speed displacement to 2-2-5, which is unstable. In order to form the stable equivalent, 3-2-(3), the magnetic displacement must be increased by one unit in one dimension. The probability of accomplishing this result is considerably lower than that of merely adding one electric displacement unit, and the step from silicon to phosphorus is consequently more difficult than the additions immediately preceding. The total amount of silicon in existence therefore builds up to the point where the lower probability of the next addition reaction is offset by the larger number of silicon atoms available to participate in the reaction. As a result, silicon should theoretically be one of the most abundant of the post-helium elements. The same considerations should apply to the elements at the midpoints of the other rotational groups, when due consideration is given to the general decrease in abundance that takes place as the atomic number increases.
As we will see in Volume III, there are reasons to believe that the composition of ordinary matter at the end of the first phase of its existence in the material sector, the dust cloud phase, conforms to these theoretical expectations. However, the abundances of the various elements in the region accessible to direct observation, a region in a later stage of development, give us a different picture. The total heavy element content does increase with the age of the matter. A representative evaluation finds the percentage of elements heavier than helium ranging from 0.3 in the globular clusters, theoretically the youngest stellar aggregates that are observable, to 4.0 in the Population I stars and interstellar dust in the solar neighborhood, theoretically the oldest matter within convenient observational range. These are approximations, of course, but the general trend is clear.
The peaks in the abundance curve that should theoretically exist at the midpoints of the rotational groups also make their appearance at the appropriate points in the lower groups of elements. The situation with respect to carbon is somewhat uncertain, because the observations are conflicting, but silicon is relatively abundant compared to the neighboring elements, as it theoretically should be, and iron, the predominant member of the trio of elements at the midpoint of Group 3A is almost as abundant as silicon. But when we turn to the corresponding members of the 3B group, ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, we find a totally different situation. Instead of being relatively abundant, as would be expected from their positions in the atomic series just ahead of another increase in the magnetic displacement, these elements are rare. This does not necessarily mean that the relative probability effect due to the magnetic displacement step is absent, as all of the neighboring elements are likewise rare. In fact, all elements beyond the iron-nickel group exist only in comparatively minute quantities. Estimates indicate that the combined amount of all of these elements in existence is less than one percent of the existing amount of iron.
It does not appear possible to explain the relative abundances in terms of the probability concept alone. A fairly substantial decrease in abundance compared to iron would be in order if the age of the local system were such as to put the peak of probability somewhere in the vicinity of iron, but this should still leave the ruthenium group among the relatively common elements. The nearly complete elimination of the heavy elements, including this group which should theoretically be quite plentiful requires the existence of some additional factor: either (1) an almost insurmountable obstacle to the formation of elements beyond the iron group, or (2) a process that destroys these elements after they are produced.
There is no indication of the existence of any serious obstacle that interferes with the formation of the heavy elements. So far as we can determine, the atom building process is just as applicable to the heavy elements as to the light ones. The building of the heavy elements is endothermic, but this should not be a serious obstacle, and in any event it does not apply below Group 4A, and therefore has no bearing on the scarcity of the 3B and lower division 3A elements. The peculiar distribution of abundances therefore seems to require the existence of a destructive process that prevents the accumulation of any substantial quantities of the elements heavier than the iron group, even though they are produced in the normal amounts. We have already seen, in Chapter 17, that such a process exists. This process will be examined in detail in Volume III, where it will be shown that the theoretical results of the process are in full agreement with the observed distribution of abundances of the elements.
The entire atom building process described in this chapter is duplicated in the cosmic sector, with space and time interchanged. Here inverse mass is added to move the elements up the cosmic atomic series.