Oops
I should have made it a little clearer why four versions of photons might translate into four derivative versions of electrons - in the pursuit of lepton symmetry. However, doing a good job on that task, especially first thing in the morning, is a little above my pay scale. Jones From: Jones Beene Yes, this new neutrino is big news. And another paper due out soon is worth considering in this regard: Georges Lochak's "four photon model" (not yet in publications). One reason to give it credence is *lepton fourfold symmetry* which would be implied in having four neutrinos along with four flavors of photon. Georges Lochak was deBroglie final graduate student and is also an interpreter of Dirac. Some of the background on Lochak's thinking is found in earlier works on magnetic monopoles. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r21x574p01353158/ But aside from this, please keep a lookout for his new paper: "A theory of light with 4 different photons : Electric and Magnetic with spin 1 and 0" .. I should mention that Don Hotson has had a look, and is not enthusiastic about Lochak. His first take on this paper was to consider Lochak's theory to be a "giant step backwards", since Don's interpretation of Dirac calls for basically "no photons". Some of this is semantics, since Don considers the 'photon' to be something akin to an elemental IOU - an illusory bundle of angular momentum, and "who needs four of them?" I am hoping he will have a closer look, if only because "symmetry is nice". However, in the end I think that physics will want to keep up the appearance of verbal continuity is its description of fundamental particles, even if they are non-particles . and even those who suspect that Hotson is ultimately correct in his main premise - will continue to address the situation is the almost the same way as before. Photons are photons, and if there are 4 flavors, so be it. Ockham be damned. BTW - Don Hotson is in poor health and our thoughts and prayers should be with him. He is truly a great thinker, even to those of us who can just barely comprehend what he is talking about. Jones From: seattle truth. This is big news.... But because it slaps the current models in the face, all the scientists involved will probably lose their grants and get blacklisted. ; ) I wouldn't be surprised. By the way, it seems that this new neutrino is immune from the weak nuclear force. Only gravity effects it, or something like that. Read for yourself. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/fermilab-experiment-hints-exis tence-new-elementary-particle "Physicists working with a Fermilab neutrino experiment may have found <http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/11/General-Science-Physics-Physics-Experimen t-Suggests-Existence-Of-New-Particle/> a new elementary particle whose behavior breaks the known laws of physics. If correct, their results poke holes in the accepted Standard Model of particles and forces, and raise some interesting questions for the Large Hadron Collider and Tevatron experiments. The new particle could even explain the existence of dark matter."
