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The Origin of Inertia
It is suggested that inertia is a fundamental property that has not been properly addressed by
Quantum Field Theory or superstring theory. The acquisition of mass-energy via a Higgs field may still
allow for a mechanism to generate an inertial reaction force upon acceleration. Even when a Higgs
particle is finally detected, one may still need a mechanism for giving the Higgs-induced mass the
property of inertia. The following discussion and articles are based on research carried out so far using
only the techniques of stochastic electrodynamics. A goal of CIPA is to explore whether these concepts
can be reformulated, validated and generalized within the more comprehensive discipline of modern
Quantum Field Theory and superstring theory.
Mathematical Discussion of Inertia Concept
(This requires Internet Explorer 5 or Netscape 6 to display the equations properly)
The Higgs Field
The following description of the Higgs mass-generating process was published by M. J. G. Veldman
(Scientific American, Nov. 1986).
"The way particles are thought to acquire mass in their interactions with the Higgs field is somewhat
analogous to the way pieces of blotting paper absorb ink. In such an analogy, the pieces of paper
represent individual particles and the ink represents energy or mass. Just as pieces of paper of different
sizes and thickness soak up varying amounts of ink, different particles 'soak up' varying amounts of
energy or mass. The observed mass of a particle depends on the particle's 'energy absorbing' ability,
and on the strength of the Higgs field in space."
This is basically a transfer of energy from a field to a particle. Note that this does not address a
deeper question: why does the energy "soaked up" from the Higgs field resist acceleration? Perhaps
that is not a legitimate question. Perhaps mass and energy intrinsically possess the property of inertia
and that is the end of the story. On the other hand, we have found a very intriguing interaction with the
electromagnetic quantum vacuum that appears to provide just this property of resistance to acceleration
that defines inertia.
The SED-based hypothesis for Inertia
In 1994, using a semi-classical technique in physics known as Stochastic Electrodynamics (SED),
B. Haisch, A. Rueda, and H. Puthoff published the hypothesis that inertia may originate in interactions
between the electromagnetic Zero-Point Field of the quantum vacuum and the quarks and electrons
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constituting matter (Phys. Rev. A, 49, 678, 1994). This SED analysis suggested that Newton's equation
of motion (F=ma) -- heretofore regarded as a postulate of physics -- might be derivable from Maxwell's
equations as applied to the electromagnetic Zero-Point Field.
This led to a NASA-funded study beginning in 1996 at the Lockheed-Martin Advanced Technology
Center in Palo Alto and the California State University in Long Beach. That study found the more
general result that the relativistic equation of motion could be derived from consideration of the
Poynting vector of the Zero-Point Field in accelerated reference frames. Again, within the context (and
limitations) of SED.
It is well known that an accelerating observer will experience a bath of radiation resulting from the
quantum vacuum which mimics that of a heat bath -- the so-called Davies-Unruh effect. This was
discovered shortly after and in connection with a 1974 paper by Hawking proposing quantum
evaporation of very low mass black holes. For an accelerated object moving through the vacuum, the
Zero-Point Field will yield a non-zero Poynting vector. Scattering of this radiation by the quarks and
electrons constituting matter would result in an acceleration-dependent reaction force that would appear
to be the origin of inertia of matter (Rueda and Haisch, Physics Letters A, 240, 115, 1998;
Foundations of Physics, 28, 1057, 1998).
In the sub-relativistic case, this inertia reaction force is exactly Newtonian. And in the relativistic
case, it exactly reproduces the well-known relativistic extension of Newton's Law. Both the ordinary
F=ma and the relativistic form of Newton's equation of motion may be derived from Maxwell's
equations as applied to the electromagnetic Zero-Point Field. We expect to be able to extend this
analysis in the future to more general versions of the quantum vacuum than just the electromagnetic
one. Indeed, it is quite possible that what we have shown is how the electromagnetic ZPF contributes to
inertia. But this may not be the whole story.
A Resonance Frequency and the de Broglie Wavelength
The approach used in the NASA study also suggested that there should be a specific resonance
frequency for the particle-ZPF interaction giving rise to inertia. We have found that if -- for the case of
the electron -- the inertia-generating resonance is at the Compton frequency, then such a resonance -driven by the Zero-Point fluctuations -- could simultaneously account for both the inertial mass of the
electron and its de Broglie wavelength when in motion as first measured by Davisson and Germer in
1927 (Physics Letters A, 268, 224, 2000, cf. also chapter 12 of de la Pena and Cetto, The Quantum
Dice: An Introduction to Stochastic Electrodynamics, Kluwer Academic Publishers).
The de Broglie wavelength of an electron placed in motion appears to be related to Doppler shifts of
Compton-frequency oscillations associated with Zitterbewegung. This provides a very suggestive
perspective on a connection between electrodynamics and the quantum wave nature of matter. Again,
limited by the validity of SED theory in this domain.
Casimir Effects and the Quantum Vacuum Energy
There is growing interest in the nature of -- and possibly even the manipulation of -- the quantum
vacuum. The vacuum stress predicted by Casimir in 1948 between conducting plates due to
modification of the electromagnetic Zero-Point fluctuations has been confirmed by experiments.
Agreement with theory at the 5-percent level has been obtained in a micron-range cavity (Lamoreaux,
Phy. Rev. Lett., 78, 5, 1997; see also Lamoreaux, 1999).
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Thermodynamic analysis has also shown that it is apparently possible -- in principle -- to extract
energy from the quantum vacuum. More specifically, no violation of thermodynamics appears to result
from such a process involving the ZPF. Although numerous unsubstantiated claims of ZPF energy
tapping gadgets may be found on the Internet, no one has yet devised any radically new means to
extract such energy on a practical scale. Only a very minute -- and impractical -- level may be achieved
using Casimir plates (which is nonetheless important as a proof of principle; see for example the article
``Extracting electrical energy from the vacuum by cohesion of charged foliated conductors'' by Robert
Forward, Phys. Rev. B, 30, 1700, 1984; for more recent theoretical analyses see Cole, 1999, Amer.
Inst. Physics Conf. Proc. No. 458, 960, 1999 and Cole & Puthoff, Phys. Rev. E, 48, 1562, 1993).
Objections
The major objection raised against these concepts is that the ZPF must not be taken literally.
According to General Relativity theory, the energy density of the ZPF would generate an enormous
spacetime curvature -- akin to a huge cosmological constant. This is, of course, true in the standard
interpretation of mass-energy. However one has to be careful to maintain self-consistency when
comparing theoretical models.
The quantum vacuum-inertia concept implies -- via the principle of equivalence -- that gravitation
must also have a connection to the ZPF (along lines conjectured by Sakharov in 1968). If that is the
case, then the ZPF cannot gravitate because gravitation would involve the interaction of the ZPF with
fundamental particles and not with itself. The energy density of the ZPF could then no longer be
naively equated to a source of gravitation. Such an electromagnetically-based theory of gravitation has
only undergone a preliminary development, but it does appear that in the weak field approximation the
general relativistic curvature of spacetime can be mimicked by a vacuum having variable dielectric
properties in the presence of matter (as conjectured by Wilson, Dicke, Puthoff and others).
This raises the tantalizing question of whether spacetime is actually physically non-Euclidean or
whether our measurements of curvature merely reflect light propagation through a polarizable medium
(the vacuum itself). This possibility is, admittedly, unlikely given the strong evidence in astrophysics
for the existence of black holes. Since the assumed curvature of spacetime is measured (by definition)
via light propagation, there might be no way to distinguish one from the other: curved spacetime vs.
light propagation with a dielectrically-modified speed-of-light. (We note that Einstein himself spent
many years looking for an electromagnetic basis for gravitation, albeit unsuccessfully. Moreover
modern attempts to quantize gravity treat gravitation as just another fundamental force in flat spacetime
in which the exchange of gravitons parallels the exchange of virtual photons as a representation of the
electromagnetic force.)
Another objection involves the neutrino. If -- unlike the neutron which consists of 3 quarks whose
charges cancel -- the neutrino is truly a neutral particle, it could have no electromagnetically originating
mass. It was announced in 1998 that the Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Observatory had, at last,
succeeded in measuring a mass for the neutrino. But bear in mind that the Super-Kamiokande
measurements did not directly measure the property of inertial mass. What was measured was the ratio
of 2 types of neutrino (the mu neutrino and the tau neutrino) created by cosmic rays. The ratios of these
two types is different as measured in an upward and a downward direction. The neutrinos coming from
below the detectors have passed through the Earth. And it is thought that during that passage there has
been an oscillation of one type into the other. Only half as many mu neutrinos are coming up through
the Earth as are coming down through the atmosphere.
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In the current Standard Model of particle physics, such an oscillation between the 2 types of
neutrinos implies a theoretical mass. To call this a "measured" mass is somewhat misleading. It is a
mass based on a specific interpretation from the Standard Model and not a direct measurement of
inertial mass (and the quantum vacuum-inertia concept of mass proposes specifically that mass is a
quite different thing than the concept of mass in the Standard Model).
However, there is a more likely resolution. There are 2 other vacuum fields: those associated with
the weak and strong interactions (see Questions). The neutrino is governed by the weak interaction. It
is possible that a similar kind of ZPF-particle interaction creates inertial mass for the neutrino but now
involving the ZPF of the weak interaction. At present, this is pure conjecture. No theoretical work has
been done on this problem. In either case, it is prudent to be open to the possibility that certain areas of
standard theory may benefit from a fundamental reinterpretation of mass which would resolve these
apparent conflicts.
While the standard-theory arguments about the cosmological constant and the mass of the neutrino
may prove in the long run to be valid, they must be kept in context. The quantum vacuum-inertia
concept appears at this time to be self-consistent with a real, necessarily non-gravitating ZPF and with a
neutral neutrino. Of course, other objections may well arise and much work remains to be done to test
this potentially revolutionary perspective on the origin of mass and the wave-nature of particles.
Stochastic ElectroDynamics and Quantum Field Theory
The Zero-Point Field of stochastic electrodynamics (SED) is similar to the quantum fluctuations that
one finds in modern Quantum fField Theory (QFT). But the random SED electromagnetic fields and
the quantum field fluctuations are far from identical. And the mathematical techniques are radically
different. SED uses classical electrodynamics, whereas QFT represents the fluctuations as creation and
annihilation operators acting on the vacuum. Modern QFT is an amazingly accurate description of
nature.
In Feynman's popular-level book QED, for example, he presents in the "Introduction" the example
of agreement between theory and prediction to 12 significant figures for the magnetic moment of the
electron. The challenge is therefore to see whether the possibly significant connection between the ZPF
of SED and the inertia of matter can be successfully translated into the more sophisticated and precise
formulation of QFT. Can Quantum Field Theory yield an analogous interpretation of inertia? And how
would this relate to the Higgs field? Indeed, even when the Higgs particle is finally detected, it will
continue to be a legitimate question to ask whether the inertia of matter as a reaction force opposing
acceleration is an intrinsic or extrinsic property of matter.
For an independent evaluation of these concepts see the report
Zero-Point Fields, Gravitation and New Physics by Prof. Paul Wesson
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