Chapter XXXVII
The Cosmic Sector
From the reciprocal relation between time and space it is apparent that the material universe with which we are familiar must be duplicated by a non-material universe identical in all respects except that space and time are interchanged. The points of contact between the two regions are relatively few and the non-material universe, or non-material sector of the universe, as it should be called, has a shadowy and elusive aspect from our viewpoint far over on the other side of the space-time axis, but we can recognize a limited number of areas in which it impinges on our theater of action in one way or another. We will now undertake an examination of those phenomena which involve an interchange between the two halves of the space-time structure.
Before beginning this examination it will be desirable to consider the question of nomenclature. Heretofore the term “non-material” has been adequate for the brief general references that have been made to the region beyond the dividing line, but for more extended and detailed consideration it will be convenient to have a general term which can be used in combination with the familiar names of the material universe to indicate the inverse phenomena. The expression “non-material” is not very suitable for this purpose since it results in such unacceptable names as non-material matter and it also leads to some ambiguities when used in connection with phenomena such as electricity. The prefix “anti,” which is currently being applied to some of these entities—the “anti-neutron,” etc.—is likewise objectionable, since this term implies that one quantity is the negative of the other, whereas the actual relationship is that of inversion. After consideration of various possibilities it has seemed that the adjective “cosmic” can be adapted to this service without any great violence either to the etymology of the word itself or to current usage. In the following pages, therefore, this term will apply to the inverse of the phenomena of the material sector of the universe. The analogue of matter on the opposite side of the neutral axis, for example, will be designated as cosmic matter, abbreviated c-matter.
In the discussion of the galactic cycle it was pointed out that the evolutionary course of the galaxies in the material sector of the universe constitutes only half of the complete cycle. When a giant spiral reaches the end of its career at the destructive limit of magnetic ionization the material of which it is composed must cross the neutral line and begin the other half of the cycle as cosmic matter. Let us now turn our attention to the process through which the interconversion takes place.
It is clear that this must be a catastrophic event: something that hurls the entire galaxy, or at least the greater part of it, across the, boundary. No mere leakage of matter will suffice, since the younger galaxies are continually growing older and if the mature units are not removed in some manner the proportion of later type galaxies will continually increase, which contradicts the general principle that the universe is unchanging in its general aspects. This means that the galaxy must terminate its existence with a gigantic explosion.
While this is apparently an inescapable deduction from the principles previously established, it must be conceded that it seems rather incredible on first consideration. The explosion of a single star is a tremendous event; the concept of an explosion involving billions of stars seems fantastic, and certainly there is no evidence of any gigantic variety of super-nova with which the hypothetical explosion can be identified. But let us examine the nature of this theoretical galactic explosion in more detail.
The galaxy is practically unaffected by thermal variations. Any changes in temperature apply to the individual stars and the temperature limit is reached in the interiors of these separate stars, not in the galaxy as a whole. Furthermore, the distances between the stars are so great that the temperature crisis in the individual star is relieved by the super-nova explosion without any significant effect on the temperature of its neighbors. The situation with respect to the other vibrational variable, the magnetic temperature, is entirely different. It has already been brought out that the increase in magnetic temperature is cumulative and the oldest stars, concentrated at the galactic center, therefore reach the destructive limit of magnetic ionization simultaneously just as the heaviest atoms, concentrated in the center of the star, simultaneously reach the destructive thermal limit. In each case the ensuing explosion propels the excess thermal or magnetic energy outward and the magnetic explosion is thus propagated through the mass of the galaxy just as the thermal explosion is propagated through the entire mass of the star.
Although the two explosion processes are very similar in these and other respects there is one very significant difference which was specifically pointed out in the original discussion of the destructive limits. The magnetic destructive limit does not involve cancellation of the magnetic rotational time displacement by an oppositely directed space displacement in the manner of the neutralization that takes place at the thermal limit, but is a result of reaching the upper zero point, the maximum possible magnetic time displacement. In other words, the galaxy and the star approach the zero limit of magnetic displacement from opposite directions. Thus the explosion of the galaxy is not a magnified super-nova; it is an explosion of the inverse type: a cosmic explosion. In the ordinary explosion with which we are familiar a portion of the mass is converted into energy in a very short time, and this results in dispersal of the remainder of the aggregate over a large amount of space in a limited amount of time. In the cosmic explosion space and time are reversed. Here a portion of the mass is converted into energy in a very small space, and this results in the dispersal of the remainder of the aggregate over a large amount of time in a limited amount of space.
In looking for astronomical evidence of a cosmic explosion, then, we should not expect to see any spectacular phenomenon. The direct results of the explosion are totally invisible since the matter is now being dispersed into time at velocities greater than unity, so that no radiation of any kind can reach us. There are, however, some collateral effects which should be observable. As the explosion proceeds a steadily increasing portion of the galaxy is dispersed into time and is lost from view. There may be some difficulty in distinguishing a galaxy which is on the way down from one which is on the way up, but there should be some difference in appearance which we can learn to recognize.
Another possible means of identifying an exploding galaxy is a reaction in the observable region. When events of this nature take place at a regional boundary line it is logical to expect that some portion of the participating units will fail to acquire the necessary energy (or velocity) to proceed in the outward direction and will be dispersed backward. In the super-nova explosion, for instance, we found that one portion of the stellar mass was blown forward into space whereas another portion was dispersed backward into time. Similarly we can expect to find a stream of particles issuing from the center of an exploding galaxy: a small replica of the large stream which is being propelled across the boundary line into time. In the galaxy M 87, which we have already recognized as possessing some of the characteristics that would be expected in the last stage of galactic existence, we find just the kind of a phenomenon which theory predicts, a jet issuing from the vicinity of the galactic center, and it would be in order to identify this galaxy, at least tentatively, as one which is now undergoing a cosmic explosion, or strictly speaking was undergoing such an explosion at the time the light now reaching us left the galaxy.
Of course, all this represents a very considerable extension of theory into the unexplored region. The extension is not entirely unsupported, however, as we can also observe cosmic explosions on a small scale. We have previously discussed the phenomenon of radioactivity, which was also found to be due to arrival at the destructive upper limit of magnetic displacement, and in view of the points which have been developed subsequently it is now evident that an explosion is initiated immediately when this limiting value is reached. Like the explosion of the galaxy, this is a cosmic explosion rather than an ordinary explosion, and since it takes place in a small space rather than in a short time it lacks the characteristics by which we are accustomed to identify an explosion.
When viewed from the standpoint of our ordinary experience radioactivity is a very strange process. A radioactive aggregate remains apparently quiescent for a finite interval of time, then for no apparent reason one atom out of millions suddenly disintegrates, whereupon all is quiet for a further interval until another atom succumbs. just why these particular atoms are affected and why the action continues at a constant rate irrespective of any change in physical conditions, even when these changes are of such magnitude that they would have a profound influence on any ordinary process, are questions that have never been satisfactorily answered.
The nature of these answers is now apparent. Radioactive decay is not a succession of separate events as it seems to be; the decay of any one aggregate is a single event initiated when the magnetic ionization level of the aggregate reaches the critical point and continuing until no more of the radioactive material remains. Each atom in turn takes part in the action at a time which depends on the rate of propagation of the cosmic explosion, just as each atom of a dynamite charge remains unaffected until the explosion is propagated through the intervening space from the initial point. The essential difference is that the rate of propagation of an ordinary explosion is very rapid, whereas the inverse condition prevails in the cosmic explosion and the rate of propagation is very slow. Furthermore, the ordinary explosion is propagated in space and the portions of the aggregate which are closer to the initial point or points are affected before the more distant portions, but the cosmic explosion is propagated in time and there is no order of succession in space. The successive atomic disintegrations are continuous in time order; that is, the atoms closest in time to the initial point or points disintegrate first and the explosion gradually moves outward in time, but there is no space order and the disintegrations therefore appear at random throughout the volume of the aggregate. The half-life of the radioactive substance is merely a measure of the rate of propagation of the cosmic explosion.
In the radioactive explosion the amount of material involved is small and the effects are rapidly dissipated. The velocities produced are therefore limited to values somewhat below unity and the explosion products remain in the time-space region. The galactic explosion, on the other hand, involves an enormous mass and the explosion is so violent that the greater part of the material of the galaxy is accelerated to velocities above unity and dispersed into the space-time region. It should be noted that this is not the same direction as that in which the super-nova explosion disperses the matter which becomes the white dwarf star. The explosion of the star takes place at the lower limit, the mathematical zero point, and the high velocities propel the material from the center of the star backward into the time region. The explosion of the galaxy takes place at the upper limit and the high velocities propel the galactic matter forward into the space-time region.
The importance of this point lies in the fact that the time region is inside the time-space region and the white dwarfs therefore occupy specific locations in space even though the individual atoms are separated by empty time. The space-time region, on the contrary, is entirely outside the time-space region and any matter which crosses the boundary leaves the material sector of the universe and no longer has a definite location in space. This matter therefore becomes subject to the non-material relationships and by the operation of cosmic forces is converted to cosmic matter, whereupon it begins to play its part in the cosmic galactic cycle. Under the influence of cosmic gravitation which moves the rotating atoms of cosmic matter toward each other in time, just as material gravitation acts on matter in space in our sector of the universe, the atoms of cosmic matter join together as cosmic particles, the cosmic particles gather into cosmic clouds, the cosmic clouds condense into cosmic stars, the cosmic stars form groups and clusters, these aggregations grow into cosmic galaxies, the cosmic-galaxies go through the same processes of development as described for the material galaxies, and finally each mature cosmic galaxy explodes, dispersing its cosmic matter back into the time-space region.
At this point the action reenters the region accessible to observation from our position in the material sector, and we may resume the detailed examination of the course of events which was interrupted when the cosmic explosion transferred the matter of the material galaxy into the inaccessible cosmic sector. We will identify the cosmic matter dispersed into our sector of the universe by the explosion of the cosmic galaxies as the cosmic rays.
Because of the reciprocal relation between space and time the rotational combinations with net displacement in time which we identify as the chemical elements and sub-material particles are necessarily paralleled by an exactly similar series of combinations with net displacement in space. The element chlorine, for instance, is a linear space frequency rotating with magnetic time displacements three and two and an electric space displacement of one. Corresponding to chlorine is a cosmic element, c-chlorine, consisting of a linear time frequency rotating with magnetic space displacements three and two and an electric time displacement of one.
In the first rough draft of this material, written many years ago, the statement in the preceding paragraph was followed by these comments, “Just where in the universe such an element would be located and how we would go about recognizing it are not apparent and no further consideration will be given to these space-elements in this work.” At that time the cosmic rays were regarded as radiation of very short wave-length and their place in the system being developed from the Fundamental Postulates was obscure. Within a few more years, however, the primary rays were found to consist of high energy particles, and by the time the first revision of the text was undertaken it was apparent that the observed characteristics of these particles were for the most part identical with the theoretical characteristics of the hypothetical cosmic elements, within the rather limited accuracy of the experimental results. Subsequent refinement of observation and measurement has further clarified the situation and we now have a very substantial body of experimental knowledge which can be compared with the theoretical properties of the cosmic matter as they are developed from previously established principles.
In beginning the construction of a theoretical picture of these cosmic particles and their behavior we may deduce first from the nature of the process through which they originate that they should reach us without preferential direction, inasmuch as they are dispersed into space from a different sector of the universe. This is substantially in agreement with the observations. There are some directional characteristics in the incoming stream, but not more than can be ascribed to conditions affecting the particles after their entry into the local system.
Next we deduce that the primary particles should arrive with extremely high velocities, ranging from slightly less than unity (the velocity of light) to velocities in the cosmic range, greater than unity. In order to propel the particles into the material sector of the universe the explosion of the cosmic galaxy must give them cosmic energies somewhat greater than unity, which means that the particle energy in the material system is slightly less than unity. For a particle of unit mass the corresponding velocity is also slightly less than unity, but the masses of the higher cosmic elements are less than unity, which means that their velocities at the same energy level are higher and may exceed the unit level. All of this is consistent with the results of observation, which merely indicate that the velocities are extremely high without establishing any upper limit.
The primary stream of particles should theoretically contain the various cosmic elements in approximately the same proportions that the material elements are found to occur in the oldest regions of our local system. This agrees with the results of observation except for the fact that these results are currently being interpreted as indicating that the cosmic particles are material elements. It is doubtful, however, if the available experimental techniques are capable of distinguishing between the cosmic elements and the material elements under the conditions existing when the observations of the primary particles are made. The presence of multiple charges, for instance, has no significance in this respect since the cosmic elements have the same ability to acquire charges as the material elements. The peculiar behavior of the particles after entry into the local system should be sufficient evidence to demonstrate that these are foreigners and not merely fast moving material atoms.
As soon as the primary particles arrive at the point where interaction with the material system is possible, the process of absorbing them into the system begins. Several different steps are involved in the process and the order of succession of these steps is not necessarily fixed. The particular sequence of events and the intermediate products are therefore somewhat variable, but we may trace what may be regarded as the normal sequence and then indicate the nature of the occasional deviations from the normal that can be expected.
The first process to which the cosmic elements should theoretically be subjected is a sort of stripping action whereby all of the components of the cosmic atomic motion which are compatible with the material system are removed, to the extent that is practicable, and only the “foreign” motion is left. Since the translational velocity, the electrical charges, and the rotational displacement in the electric dimension are all capable of being utilized in the local system, the effect of this first process in the normal sequence is to eliminate, insofar as is possible in the short time available, everything but the magnetic rotational space displacement, an item which cannot be incorporated into the material structure until it has undergone some major changes. The product of such a stripping process is one of the members of the purely magnetic series of cosmic elements (the cosmic equivalent of the inert gas series), with a greatly reduced velocity and a minimum charge, if any. Since the lower cosmic elements constitute the largest proportion of the primary particles the principal secondary product, aside from the electrons and other particles which are stripped off and absorbed into the local system, is cosmic helium.
Although this process is purely theoretical, it is a direct consequence of the probability principles. The combination of motions which constitutes the cosmic atom is a very stable unit in the cosmic sector o the universe but it has an extremely low probability under terrestrial conditions, and as soon as there is an opportunity for interaction with the material system each encounter tends to cause changes which move the atomic system toward a state of greater probability. The very high translational velocity, for instance, is an improbable condition in the local environment. Each contact with other units therefore tends to reduce the velocity of the cosmic atom to a lower level, a state of greater probability.
The second phase of the absorption of the cosmic particles into the material system involves the conversion of cosmic rotation into material rotation by a change in the orientation of the rotation with respect to space-time; that is, by a change in the zero point. We have already found in our examination of other phenomena that any rotational time displacement t is the equivalent of an oppositely directed rotational space displacement k-t, where k is the opposite end of the space-time unit. We have also evaluated the space-time unit in magnetic rotation as the equivalent of four subsidiary units in each dimension. Any magnetic rotational displacement a in space (or time) is thus equivalent to a displacement 4-a in time (or space).
The conversion of space displacement a into time displacement 4-a does not involve any modification of the rotation itself; it is merely a change in direction with reference to the general framework of space-time. The situation is analogous to a change in the valence of a material element. The negative valence one iodine atom in NaI is identical with the positive valence seven iodine atom in 1F7 even though the chemical behavior of the two atoms shows little resemblance, and by suitable methods either valence can be shifted to the alternate value. This is possible because the only difference between the two is a matter of direction; one unit clockwise in an eight unit circle reaches exactly the same spot as seven units counterclockwise. Similarly any cosmic atom is the equivalent of some material atom or combination of atoms, and by suitable methods can be converted into the latter. Here again probability is the active agent in the normally occurring processes. In the cosmic environment the cosmic atom is a stable structure with a high inherent probability of existence; in the material environment it is an improbable structure and therefore unstable. The effect of this situation is to force prompt conversion into the material status when the material environment is reached.
In view of the interconvertability of the 4-a displacement in one system and the a displacement in the other, we may set up the following table of equivalents for the purely magnetic elements (the inert gas series).
| Material System (time displacements) |
Cosmic System (space displacements) |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Neutron | 1-1-0 | (3)-(3)-0 | c-Krypton |
| Helium | 2-1-0 | (3)-(2)-0 | c-Argon |
| Neon | 2-2-0 | (2)-(2)-0 | c-Neon |
| Argon | 3-2-0 | (2)-(1)-0 | c-Helium |
| Krypton | 3-3-0 | (1)-(1)-0 | c-Neutron |
On this basis it should be possible for any element in the list to be transformed into the equivalent structure in the other system. Cosmic helium, for instance, is equivalent to argon. This process, however, encounters an obstacle in that the two magnetic rotations are independent but must conform to the same space-time direction. It is therefore impossible for either rotation to convert from one system to the other unless the second rotation just happens to be ready to make the conversion simultaneously. Such a coincidence can occur but it has a relatively low probability and hence the conversion is normally accomplished by a more probable route.
Like the isotope of matter which is above or below the stability limits, the cosmic atom is outside the zone of stability in the material environment and it is therefore subject to the same type of losses from its system of motions. The most probable event in the short terrestrial sojourn of the cosmic particle, after the initial stripping, is therefore a loss of rotational displacement. The direction of greater stability is toward the cosmic equivalent of a lower time displacement; that is, a higher space displacement. The losses consequently take the form of ejection of time displacement, increasing the space displacement (the cosmic atomic number) of the residual cosmic atom.
The time displacement losses from a purely magnetic system are the equivalent of successive ejection of neutrons, and this is undoubtedly the actual process in locations where the magnetic ionization level is zero so that the neutron is stable. These neutrons are then immediately available for atom building and constitute one of the sources of the new matter which is continually being formed throughout space, as indicated in the preceding discussion. In the local system where the neutron, 1-1-0, is unstable the time displacement is ejected in the form of a pair of equivalent stable particles, a neutrino, 1-1-(1), and a positron, 1-0-1.
The difference between successive elements in the magnetic (inert gas) series is equivalent to two neutrons (or neutrinos plus positrons), since the neutron has effective rotational displacement in only one magnetic dimension. Emission of the equivalent of one neutron therefore takes the atom only as far as the midpoint of the following group. The second emission moves it up to the next place in the magnetic series. When the 3-3 space displacement (c-krypton) is reached, conversion to the 1-1 time displacement takes place and the cosmic krypton atom disintegrates into two neutrinos. Only one positron is emitted in this process as the other electric time displacement is absorbed in the split into two magnetic particles and the resulting conversion of rotational mass to neutron mass. This completes the transformation of the cosmic atom into sub-material particles, which now become available for atom building in the material system.
Theoretically the whole decay process all the way from cosmic helium to neutrons or their equivalent should take place by successive emission of neutrons or pairs of neutrinos and positrons until the conversion is complete, and presumably this is the actual course of events, but the intermediate products of this step process are of varying degrees of stability and since even the most stable cosmic atom has an extremely short life in a material environment the least stable is not much more than a dividing line between two simultaneous processes. It is to be expected that the order of stability will be in the direction of the path of decay; that is, a naturally occurring process normally tends toward more stable products. A possible exception is the last intermediate product between c-argon and c-krypton, which is so close to the final conversion level that it may be abnormally short lived.
The mass of a cosmic element is the inverse of the mass of the corresponding material element, hence the rotational mass of an element of cosmic atomic number n is 1/n on the natural scale or 2/n on the atomic weight scale. For convenience the masses of the cosmic ray decay particles are usually expressed in terms of electron masses and on this basis the 1/n natural units are equivalent to
2/n x 1823 = 3646/n
electron masses. The rotational masses of the cosmic elements in the normal decay path are therefore as follows:
| Cosmic Element | Natural Units | Electron Masses |
|---|---|---|
| c-Helium | ½ | 1823 |
| c-Carbon | 1/6 | 608 |
| c-Neon | 1/10 | 365 |
| c-Silicon | 1/14 | 260 |
| c-Argon | 1/18 | 203 |
| c-Cobalt | 1/27 | 135 |
If we make the assumption, as previously suggested, that c-cobalt, which is within one-half of a magnetic unit of the final conversion level, has an abnormally short life for this reason, the most common and longest lived of the intermediate products of the decay of the primary cosmic particles is c-argon, with rotational mass 203. We will identify these intermediate products as mesons and c-argon as the mu meson. This mu meson is reported to have a mass of about 206, is formed by the decay of a heavier and shorter-lived meson, and itself undergoes a double decay process (two positrons emitted) in which it is completely converted to neutrinos. All of this agrees with theory if we assume that the lifetime of c-cobalt is near zero.
The immediately preceding cosmic element in the decay order is c-silicon, with rotational mass 260. This we identify as the pi meson. This particle has a life of about 10-8 sec, as compared with the mu meson life of approximately 10-6 sec, and it decays to the mu meson. Unlike the mu meson which is practically inert, it has a strong tendency toward interaction with the material elements. All of these properties of the observed pi meson are strictly in accordance with theory. The difference in the reaction tendencies of the pi and mu mesons is, of course, due to the fact that the pi meson (c-silicon) has an effective displacement in the electric dimension whereas the mu meson (c-argon) is a cosmic inert gas and has no electric displacement.
The measured mass of the pi meson is usually reported somewhere in the range from 265 to 275. In view of the experimental difficulties involved, these measurements are not entirely inconsistent with the theoretical value of 260 for the rotational mass of c-silicon but it is also possible that the greater mass is real. It has been emphasized in the preceding discussion that the values given for the masses of the cosmic elements refer to the rotational mass only. These elements, like the material elements, may have isotopes and the total mass applicable to a particular element may vary through a substantial range, just as in the material system.
In the primary stream of particles the isotopes, except c-H1, should normally be lighter than the parent atoms, since the cosmic isotopic weight will be above the cosmic atomic weight corresponding to the rotational mass, for the same reasons as in the material system. The material equivalent of this greater cosmic atomic weight is a smaller mass. On the other hand the intermediate products which are formed and exist in the material environment are subject to the same magnetic ionization forces as the material atoms and like those units will tend toward isotopic masses which are greater than the mass of the parent atom. The relative probability of the existence of heavier isotopes is in the same order as the probability in the material system, since it is the material environment that determines this probability. Isotopes of c-argon, the mu meson, which is the cosmic equivalent of helium, should be relatively rare, with those of c-silicon, the pi meson, somewhat more common. An isotope of mass 270, corresponding to a cosmic atomic weight of 27 for c-silicon, is therefore entirely in order.
According to the theoretical decay scheme there should be two more mesons of still shorter life between cosmic helium and the pi meson. Particles with masses in this range (approximately 350 to 750) are reported from time to time but the significance of these results is still somewhat uncertain. From the decrease in life span in passing from the mu meson to the pi meson it may be deduced that the mean life of the hypothetical earlier mesons will be in the range from about 10-10 sec downward, and the detection of such particles obviously presents a difficult problem. The immediate predecessor of the pi meson, c-neon, is another cosmic inert gas, which complicates the problem of identifying it.
The experimental production of pi mesons now being reported from the particle accelerators should be a similar chain reaction, as the theoretical result of the conversion of kinetic energy (linear space displacement) into cosmic matter (rotational space displacement) is the cosmic neutron. This should be converted into c-helium practically instantaneously and the decay should thereafter follow the cosmic ray pattern.
At the present time the experimental results are interpreted as indicating that the great majority of the primary cosmic ray particles have unit atomic weight. If this is correct it indicates that the “stripping” of the smaller atoms is already well advanced when the first observations are made, as the cosmic atom of unit mass on the material atomic weight scale is c-helium, whereas the original stream must be composed primarily of c-hydrogen. The stripping may be somewhat slower for the larger atoms and the first stage of magnetic decay in these structures may in some cases precede the electric decay, in which case different intermediate products will be formed. There is considerable evidence, for instance, of the existence of a meson with a mass in the neighborhood of 900, which corresponds to c-beryllium, and meson masses have been reported through practically the entire range from the pi meson to c-helium. Perhaps some of these values are in error, but there is an increasing amount of evidence of the existence of mesons other than the common mu and pi types, which is particularly significant in view of the large number of theoretically possible particles of this kind.
Many decay events of a complex nature have also been detected and studied in recent cosmic ray work. It is probably too early to attempt a definite identification of the particular cosmic particles involved in these events, but it should be pointed out that the cosmic elements are subject to the same kind of combining forces as those which are responsible for the great variety of chemical compounds in the material system and there is every reason to believe that the incoming stream of cosmic matter contains cosmic compounds as well as cosmic elements. Only the simpler types can be expected to survive long enough in the terrestrial environment to be recognized, but even so the number of different combinations that may be encountered is very large. It is definitely in order to suggest that in at least some of these more complex cosmic ray events we are observing the disintegration of cosmic chemical compounds.
Another contact between the material and non-material sectors of the universe occurs through the medium of radiation. Cosmic matter radiates its linear vibrational motion in the same manner and under the same conditions as ordinary matter, and there is just as much cosmic radiation in the universe as a whole as there is radiation from the material structures. Like the radiation with which we are familiar, the cosmic radiation covers the entire spectrum of wavelengths, but in the reverse order. The cosmic equivalent of wavelength a (in natural units) is a wavelength of 1/a. Cosmic x-rays and gamma rays are therefore in the long wave region whereas cosmic radio waves appear with short wavelengths.
In our material system mass is continually being converted into energy and the energy is not only being dissipated into space but is also degraded to lower frequencies as it moves outward. In the cosmic system the same sort of processes are operative and cosmic mass is undergoing the same gradual attrition. As has been emphasized previously, however, the Fundamental Postulates do not permit the existence of basic processes which operate only in one direction, and it therefore follows that both matter and cosmic matter must be reconstituted in some manner from radiation. Let us see if we can determine the nature of this reverse mechanism.
An atom of matter or a sub-material particle is a vibrating space displacement (photon) rotating with displacement in time. In order to produce such a particle we must therefore have (1) a photon with a space displacement, (2) a high c-energy photon or other source of sufficient time displacement to cause rotation of the first photon, and (3) the proper kind of a contact between the two. Now let us ask where these ingredients are available. The answer is, everywhere in the cosmic sector of the universe. All cosmic matter is emitting cosmic thermal radiation consisting of photons with space displacement (frequencies in the x-ray region) while thermal and radio frequency radiation, which is high energy radiation from the cosmic standpoint, is continually entering from the material sector. Contact of these two types of photons in an appropriate manner, a requirement which probability will satisfy sooner or later in a region where both are present in quantities, produces the sub-material particles which ultimately form matter. The type of radiation normally produced by the destruction of matter in the material sector is therefore converted back into matter in the cosmic sector.
Similarly the cosmic thermal radiation produced by the destruction of cosmic matter in the cosmic stars is converted back into cosmic matter by interaction with the material thermal radiation in the material sector. The primary product is the cosmic neutron which, as in the very similar process in the particle accelerators, is promptly converted into cosmic helium and then follows the normal cosmic ray decay path. Although the cosmic matter thus produced is otherwise indistinguishable from that which constitutes the cosmic rays previously described, it lacks the high velocities of the latter and probably does not penetrate very far into the atmospheres of the stars or planets. Identification of these particles will therefore be difficult. It is possible, however, to recognize the products of the related reaction which takes place when the incoming cosmic radiation is intercepted by atoms of matter rather than by photons. A single cosmic photon is not able to produce a magnetic rotation of the atom because of the complex atomic rotational structure, and instead it imparts an electric rotational vibration, ionizing the atom. In the outer atmospheres of the stars and planets we can therefore expect to find appreciable amounts of highly ionized atoms of the various elements that are present in the incoming flow of interstellar matter.
This phenomenon is readily identified in the corona of the sun. The surface temperature of the sun is about 6000° K and it is evident that if conditions in the vicinity of the sun are normal there must be a temperature gradient in the outer regions, including the corona, from this 6000° level down to the temperature of interstellar space. The ionization level in the chromosphere, however, corresponds to the thermal ionization which would exist at a temperature of 20,000° to 30,000° K and in order to explain the still stronger ionization in the corona on a thermal basis it would be necessary to assume a temperature in the neighborhood of one million degrees. The observed level of ionization is therefore inconsistent with a thermal origin unless a highly abnormal temperature situation exists in this region and no convincing reason why conditions should be abnormal has ever been discovered. We are thus led to the conclusion that the ionization is not thermal and that it is a product of the cosmic radiation which, according to theory, should be causing just the kind of an effect which we observe. In the light of this explanation the location of the maximum ionization in the outer regions of the corona is to be expected, since the matter in this zone is exposed to the maximum cosmic radiation. As this radiation travels inward it is gradually attenuated by contacts with the diffuse material in the intervening space and the degree of ionization of the material atoms is reduced accordingly.
The cosmic radiation of this type, originating from cosmic thermal and cosmic radio wavelength sources, is in the x-ray region and it is not received at the earth’s surface as it is cut off by the upper atmosphere. Even if it were accessible, however, it would be very difficult to interpret since the aggregations of cosmic matter are localized in time, not in space, and consequently we do not receive a continuous stream of radiation from a cosmic source as we do from a material source. The same comments apply to any other type of radiation from the cosmic aggregates. Such radiation if received at all is received by us as if it originated uniformly throughout space and whatever variations may exist are functions of time only.
We can, however, detect and identify radiation of the cosmic type originating from sources within the material sector of the universe. Inasmuch as the cosmic equivalent of visible light does not reach us, our reception of cosmic radiation is confined to the other principal type of radiation, the cosmic gamma rays, which we receive at radio wavelengths. These cosmic gamma rays originate from cosmic matter subjected to forces which cause atomic readjustments, just as the normal gamma rays originate from ordinary matter under the same conditions. Aside from the cosmic rays, the only appearance of cosmic matter in the material system is in connection with processes of extreme violence: galactic and super-nova explosions, inter-galactic collisions, etc. Objects which are undergoing or have recently (in the astronomical sense) undergone such processes are therefore the principal sources of the localized long wave radiations which are now being studied in the relatively new science of radio astronomy. Typical examples of the kinds of sources mentioned are the Crab Nebula (a super-nova), Messier 87 (an exploding galaxy) and Cygnus A (colliding galaxies).
Generation of long wave radiation by material systems is also possible, and no doubt many of the signals picked up by the radio telescopes emanate from such sources but the strong signals are more likely to originate from cosmic sources since the intensity peak for cosmic gamma radiation, as expressed by the cosmic equivalent of Wien’s Law is actually in the radio region, whereas the equivalent peak for thermal radiation is at very much shorter wavelengths and a strong radio signal from thermal sources would therefore require an extremely powerful emitter.