I see evidence that what we refer to as electromagnetic fields actually have mass distributed throughout their spatial distribution. This is due in part to the calculations of the energy located within a field. If you recall fields studies during your college years one of the parameters that is studied is the energy stored within a static capacitve or inductive field. Most of the energy is outside of the actual device.
Another reason that I believe that these fields have mass is how they interact with nearby moving particles. To explain what I mean by this statement, consider what happens to a high speed electron entering a magnetic field. Under most conditions it becomes immediately deflected by it interaction with that field. To deflect the electron, a force had to be applied and momentum has to be exchanged. This interaction can take place at a point in space that is far removed from the current flow that generates the field. Since the speed of light is finite, information does not reach the source current before the electron begins to be deflected. If you consider the case of a deep space magnetic field which has an atom located within it that undergoes beta- decay, it is obvious that the path of that emitted electron is curved long before the moving currents that set up the field have any idea that it has happened. You can calculate the change in momentum that the electron undergoes fairly easily for a spatially simple field distribution. So, you might ask how does the total momentum balance? The only way a balance can occur, as far as I understand the problem, is for the mass associated with the local region of the large field to undergo an acceleration. If this actually happens then the distribution of the energy and momentum of the large field must change. This changing field would likely set up a moving wave in space that we detect as a photon interaction. If you want to follow up on this concept further, consider the implications of the electric field emanating from an electron. Since the electric field surrounding the electron spreads forever into space, its mass should have a component that is spread in a like manner. The magnitude of this energy spread out component might possibly make up the entire mass of the particle. I have not performed this calculation, but it would be interesting to see how much might be distributed instead of highly localized as a point particle. Perhaps someone has the knowledge and time to make that calculation. Is it possible that a proton, which has the same far field behavior as an electron is a tighter physical structure of the same type of electric field with mass? In that case, as you move closer to the center of the particle, the field increases as one divided by distance squared. That would suggest that the mass associated with the field increases rapidly as you come closer to its origin. If you sum up all the mass associated with the much smaller field region, how small would the particle become when it effectively contains the mass that we measure? This exercise is intended to open possible avenues of discussion and does not reflect the current physics understanding of quantum mechanics. I personally cling to quantum mechanics and respect how well it defines what is seen under real life situations. Of course, Mills has offered his theories that overturn that understanding. My thoughts are just an exercise in what if type of speculation. Dave -----Original Message----- From: David Roberson <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, Feb 4, 2015 1:04 am Subject: Re: [Vo]:vortex mass Photons may not have rest mass, but they do carry momentum and energy. These parameters are at a magnitude determined by E=MC^2. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Eric Walker <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, Feb 3, 2015 11:42 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:vortex mass On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 7:54 AM, David Roberson <[email protected]> wrote: It would have been a surprise to find that nanovortices did not have mass since they obviously have energy. Mass is a tricky thing. Photons have no rest mass, for example, even though they can carry as much energy as you can put into them. But they do follow the contours of spacetime, almost as if they had mass. (I wonder, here, whether physicists have gotten themselves into another language game with this one.) Eric
