by Dilip D James
No other sub-atomic particle holds such fascination for the physicist as the photon. More is probably known about the photon than about any other sub-atomic particle . Yet in spite of this the photon remains as shrouded in mystery as on the day its existence was first suspected by Einstein , almost 100 years ago.
The properties of the photon have been observed extensively over many years , yet no explanations have been offered for any of these properties , it remains as elusive as ever. This is not surprising when one examines in detail what exactly these properties are :-
With so many properties of the photon available for study , one would have thought that it should have been possible for some kind of a model to be built of the photon which would incorporate all these properties. This has never been done . While the mass and relative sizes of even pions and muons , which are secondary sub-atomic particles in the atomic nucleus , have been determined , no such attempts have been made with regard to the photon. The question has to be asked , is this a deliberate strategy ? The answer is yes. It turns out that the concept of wave particle duality is central to the very existence of atoms , without the concept of wave-particle duality we would have had no explanation as to how or why atoms can exist , according to classical physics atoms cannot or should not exist. The importance of wave particle duality was paramount for the first forty years , yet when in 1955 Lamb and Retherford discovered physical evidence for the emission and absorption of “virtual” photons by the electrons of the atom thereby offering a more viable and solid alternative , the concept of wave particle duality should have been phased out. Unfortunately it was so deeply entrenched in the physics of the time that it had taken on the status of a sacred principle. Hence the reticence on the part of physicists to try to evolve a structure for the photon.
I decided to attempt to formulate a model which would
fit all the known properties of the photon and met with remarkable success .
Pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place one after the other . The first
piece to fall into place was the phenomenon of electrical conduction.
Although electricity is one of the
oldest phenomenon known to physics , adequate explanations have still not been
found. Most physicists still think that electrical energy is conveyed by
electrons , like pushing in ping pong balls into a tube already filled with
ping pong balls ,this is a false notion , since the drift velocity of electrons under a potential difference is a
fraction of a millimeter a second while energy is established in the conductor
at the speed of light. The next bit of
the puzzle to fall into place was the phenomenon of magnetism this
was followed by an explanation for electromagnetic radiation and
the nature of inductive and
radiative fields a natural corollary to this was the nature of light
and its propagation , an explanation for superconductivity
followed and substantiated the theory ending with the momentous discovery of the nature of Gravity.
The wonderful thing about this is that The New Grand Unified Theory unites all the phenomenon related above and were the result of a single discovery , namely the structure of the photon.
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