How energy turns to matter!

The famous formula E = mc2 of Einstein is normally understood as that energy can transfer into mass and vice versa. Energy and mass are thus considered different categories.

Yet, in the literature, no explanation exists for how the one category transfers into the other. There is no mechanism that explains how mass converts into energy and vice versa. Neither did i find indications that such mechanisms are (un)consciously left implicit. So i found it worthwhile to investigate.

In the first section of this article, i discuss what the problems could be in identifying a transformation mechanism for energy to mass and vice versa. Then, in the second section, i introduce a set of definitions. Among them is a new type of fundamental particle (the Bp), essential to a transformation mechanism. Also in section two, i define pure energy and pure mass in terms of the behavior of the proposed fundamental particle.

1. a conceptual barrier between energy and mass

Since Newton formulated his three laws of nature, mass is associated with inertia. This means that we have to apply a force in order to affect the velocity of a mass and the amount of force needed is proportional to the amount of mass being affected.

There is also a second phenomenon associated with mass, namely that it attracts other masses. So there is a force, activated by the one mass, pulling on the other. This process is known as gravity. And the strength of the gravity is related to the amount of mass.

Energy is a more abstract concept. Many forms exist. There is heat, there is light, there is kinetic energy, etc. All forms of energy can however be reduced to some sort of motion. If we heat a pan of water, then essentially what we do is to set water-molecules in motion. And if we double the energy, as produced by a lamp, we essentially double the number of light particles that radiate from the lamp.

A complicating factor is that contemporary physical theories about basic particles of physics all have in common that mass is some sort of intrinsic property of a particle. A particle can gain energy by its motion. So if I set a specific mass in motion, I add energy to this mass. We could then talk about the total energy of the particle as an equivalence of its “rest mass” plus the added energy of motion. The latter is also called kinetic energy. This way of thinking is fueled by our experience as much as by theories like the ones of Newton and Einstein: mass is something entirely different from energy.

Because of this, the equivalence is mainly interpreted as a linear dependence of the one upon the other; as a quantitative equivalence. This way of thinking represents a conceptual barrier between energy and mass. If we want to surmount this barrier, we need a new set of definitions.

2. definitions

I define an object as any distinguishable physical entity. An object can have a corpuscular or wave-like character. The only prerequisite is that there is a consistent (arbitrary) spatial boundary to it. A photon for example is an object because it has a physical character and its boundaries can be located at any given point in time. The boundary of a spreading wave in a water pond on the other hand, is not regarded as consistent.

I define a phenomenon as any type of change in the spatial relation between objects. So if an object moves towards another object, we have a phenomenon.

I define the term basic as an attribute of a type of object, meaning that any other type of object is built from it. I do not use the term fundamental because i would like to evade confusion with what is frequently called a "fundamental particle", which has a specific meaning within Quantum Mechanics and within the Standard Model.

I define a Basic Phenomenal Object (BPO, or just Bp for short) as a basic object that is already a phenomenon in itself, so it continuously changes its spatial relation with other objects.

For a basic theory, it is very worthwhile to try and limit the number of types of basic objects. The ultimate limit is that there is only one type. So we must try this simplicity first and only if we fail, introduce another type of object. Then, if we assume only one type of Bp, we can only distinguish between energy and mass through difference in behavior of these Bp’s. To this end, i propose that Bp’s have a type of interaction that permits them to form systems of Bp’s.

I define a natural particle as a system, composed of two or more interacting Bp’s. Bp’s within a particle have a Pattern of Motion (PoM), induced by their interaction. A PoM represents an equilibrium state in the interaction of the Bp’s. A multitude of particle types exists because there is a multitude of these PoMs.

I can now define pure mass as a PoM without translatory motion. So a pure mass is a PoM that is localised around a fixed point in absolute space. I call this an mPoM (the m stands for mass).

I define pure energy as a PoM that has a maximum translatory motion and call this an ePoM (the e stands for energy). The ePoM cannot move faster from one point in space to the other than it does (without losing its equilibrium state).

I propose that the mPoM and the ePoM present two extremes of a spectrum and that PoMs can exist between these two extremes. A transfer from pure mass to pure energy is now a transition from one PoM into the other, potentially of the same set of Bp’s in the particle.

Through these definitions, i have shown that the difference between energy and mass is only in the pattern of motion type that the Bp's in a particle maintain. Mind you, this is not a trivial exercise of thought. What we have here is a totally original solution to a problem in physics that is more than a century old. If you did not get that from reading the above, then please read again or ask me some questions below.

Interested to learn more? For example what these mPoMs and ePoMs actually look like? Read my book "Monkeys do not die as lizards". Buy it online as a hard-copy or download it at figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20733877.v1

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