Natural Science Forum / Physics / Particle Physics / December 2005

"The Nature of Mass"

    We have all been taught in our physics classes that mass is
one of the fundamental entities of our reality and that all of the effects
occurring in our Universe are dependent on interactions between masses. It
behooves us then to examine what we know of mass.

    About 40 years ago the writer came across the observation in a
Scientific American article that, in the equation E=M*C^2 there can only be
two
independent variables. One of those variables, E, M, or C must be dependent
upon
the other two. If we look at the velocity of light, C, it is obvious that it
must be one of the independent variables. Since velocity involves only
length
and time, we can measure the velocity of light under conditions that are
independent of either mass or energy. Similarly, it is obvious that energy,
E,
is an independent variable since energy involves only force and length, we
can
also measure it under conditions that are independent of the velocity of
light
and of mass. There remains only mass to be examined.

    If one wished to determine the mass of an object, one could
weigh it (gravitational mass), shake it (inertial mass) or observe the
amount of
energy released if it where annihilated. Weighing a mass provides a
measurement
of its mass but the observation is made in terms of a reference mass (e.g.-
the
mass of the Earth) and, in effect, we would then be defining the mass in
terms
of another mass. This is hardly an acceptable solution since it leads to a
dead
end. Annihilating the mass is a legitimate solution providing one can
measure
the energy content of the end products without relying on a measurement of
their
mass (such a reliance would be a form of circular reasoning). The remaining
possibility is to measure the inertial properties of the mass by, for
example,
shaking it and measuring the force required to produce an a given
acceleration.
This type of measurement involves force, length, and time, all of which are
directly observable and does not suffer form the limitations of the other
methods. What we would then be doing is measuring mass as the incremental
impulse required to produce an incremental change in velocity. (In the case
of
photons and neutrinos it might be desirable to remove the word "incremental"
from the measurement since these particles exist only at the velocity of
light).
Seen in this light, what we consider to be mass is actually a property which
is
an indication of the energy required to change the velocity of the quantity
of
energy defined by E=M*C^2. With this definition, the Lorentz Transformation
for
Mass becomes equal to the cube of the accepted value and allows problems
involving STR to be solved without resorting to momentum. This conclusion is
consistent with STR because the conventional Lorentz Transformation results
when
one integrates this transformation between the limits of 0 and V.

    An intellectual difficulty occurs when one considers the
so-called "massless" particles. They have this name because they have no
"rest
mass". A reasonable man would consider such a terminology to be frivolous
because these particles exist only when traveling at the velocity of light.
They
have no "rest mass" because they don't exist at rest. These so called
"massless"
particles do however, possess inertial mass as evidenced by the radiation
pressure they exert when their velocity vectors are altered, either by
reflection or absorption. They provide the same reaction force as would a
material particle of the same relativistic mass that was traveling
infinitesimally close to the velocity of light. They also experience
gravitational forces that are twice the force that would be experienced by a
material particle of the same energy. A simple "thought experiment" as
outlined
in Part 4 of http://einsteinhoax.com/gravity.htm easily shows this. (The
writer
has received a rather cryptic E-mail from someone who apparently is
associated
with the physics establishment to the effect that the photon imparts
momentum
because its energy is equal to the product of its frequency and Plank's
Constant
and it is traveling at the velocity of light. The sender denied vehemently
that
the expression E=M*C^2 and the idea that even though the photon contains
energy
and imparts a momentum equivalent to a mass of that energy traveling at the
velocity of light, means that the photon has mass. Bertrand Russell is
reported
to have said that the sign of a great mind is the ability to hold two
mutually
exclusive beliefs at the same time. The writer disagrees with him. That
ability
is the sign of a mind which is too lazy to resolve the contradiction and/or
is
too damn lazy or too damn stupid to resolve it)

    The inertial and gravitational masses of the so-called
"massless" particles have a significant effect on our understanding of
cosmology. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that the inertial
mass of
these particles, as evidenced by the 3 degree Kelvin radiation temperature
of
space, exceeds the inertial mass of the matter in our Universe by a factor
of
10. When we consider that neutrinos are formed in nucleons that have 1800
times
the energy content of the source of photons (electrons), it may be possible
that
the mass of neutrinos outweighs the mass of photons by a factor of 1800!
Looked
at it in this light, our Universe may actually be a gasbag of photons and
neutrinos filled with a miniscule amount of the dust we call matter. Rather
than
being the King of the Universe, what we call as matter may actually be only
a
miniscule contaminant.

    If we examine the radiation pressure produced by the observed
level of photons in space, it is easy to see why space appears to be
expanding.
Radiation pressure is counteracting the gravitational pressure. It is also
easy
to understand why the dynamics of galaxies appears to be skewed by what is
termed "dark matter". There would seem to be no need to postulate the
existence
of "dark matter" until the gravitational and inertial effects of the photons
and
neutrinos that populate the Universe have been amply explored. This has not
been
done, primarily because these particles have been foolishly defined as
"massless".

    The source material for this posting may be found in
http://einsteinhoax.com/hoax.htm ("The Einstein Hoax" {1997});
http://einsteinhoax.com/gravity.htm; ("Gravity" {1987}); and
http://einsteinhoax.com/relcor.htm ("Corrections to Special Relativity"
{1997}). EVERYTHING WHICH WE ACCEPT AS TRUE MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH
EVERYTHING ELSE WE HAVE ACCEPTED AS TRUE, IT MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH ALL
OBSERVATIONS, AND IT MUST BE MATHEMATICALLY VIABLE. PRESENT TEACHINGS DO NOT
ALWAYS MEET THIS REQUIREMENT. THE WORLD IS ENTITLED TO A HIGHER STANDARD OF
WORKMANSHIP FROM THOSE IT HAS GRANTED WORLD CLASS STATUS.

    All of the Newsposts made by this site may be viewed at
http://einsteinhoax.com/postinglog.htm.

    Please make any response via E-mail as Newsgroups are not monitored on
a regular basis. Objective responses will be treated with the same courtesy
as they are presented. To prevent the wastage of time on both of our parts,
please do not raise objections that are not related to material that you
have read at the Website. This posting is merely a summary.

    E-mail:- einsteinhoax@isp.com

    The material at the Website has been posted continuously for over 5
years. In that time THERE HAVE BEEN NO OBJECTIVE REBUTTALS OF ANY OF THE
MATERIAL PRESENTED. There have only been hand waving arguments by
individuals who have mindlessly accepted the prevailing wisdom without
questioning it. If anyone provides a significant rebuttal that cannot be
objectively answered, the material at the Website will be withdrawn.
Challenges to date have revealed only the responder's inadequacy with one
exception for which a correction was provided.

    The source material for this posting may be found in
http://einsteinhoax.com/hoax.htm ("The Einstein Hoax" {1997});
http://einsteinhoax.com/gravity.htm; ("Gravity" {1987}); and
http://einsteinhoax.com/relcor.htm ("Corrections to Special Relativity"
{1997}). EVERYTHING WHICH WE ACCEPT AS TRUE MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH
EVERYTHING ELSE WE HAVE ACCEPTED AS TRUE, IT MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH ALL
OBSERVATIONS, AND IT MUST BE MATHEMATICALLY VIABLE. PRESENT TEACHINGS DO NOT
ALWAYS MEET THIS REQUIREMENT. THE WORLD IS ENTITLED TO A HIGHER STANDARD OF
WORKMANSHIP FROM THOSE IT HAS GRANTED WORLD CLASS STATUS.

    All of the Newsposts made by this site may be viewed at
http://einsteinhoax.com/postinglog.htm.

    Please make any response via E-mail as Newsgroups are not monitored on
a regular basis. Objective responses will be treated with the same courtesy
as they are presented. To prevent the wastage of time on both of our parts,
please do not raise objections that are not related to material that you
have read at the Website. This posting is merely a summary.

    E-mail:- einsteinhoax@isp.com

    The material at the Website has been posted continuously for over 5
years. In that time THERE HAVE BEEN NO OBJECTIVE REBUTTALS OF ANY OF THE
MATERIAL PRESENTED. There have only been hand waving arguments by
individuals who have mindlessly accepted the prevailing wisdom without
questioning it. If anyone provides a significant rebuttal that cannot be
objectively answered, the material at the Website will be withdrawn.
Challenges to date have revealed only the responder's inadequacy with one
exception for which a correction was provided.