A Potential Economically Viable Source of Positrons

Electron - Positron Annihilation -- An Ultimate Green Energy Source

100% Mass Conversion--No Radioactivity--No CO2 Emission

Our energy (as well as our economic and political) salvation may be in basic physics. In our quest to be less dependent on hydrocarbons, we continue to focus on the same old things – nuclear reactors (maybe smaller sizes), fusion energy (which may never reach break even), wind mills, solar cells, fuel cells (Bloom Energy et al.), geothermal, etc.. What we need is something new and really competitive especially from the cost perspective. The humble electron with a potential new behavior to exploit may be the answer.  

Mainstream physics seems to be "thriving" on complexity and ideas that are far more speculative in many cases than what I have proposed below (they have forgotten past history, KISS and Occam’s Razor).  I am sharing this information in the hope that it will at least start a dialogue and make people think outside the box (it has the potential to be a “game changer” especially for the energy problems we face). I have been involved with the electron in one form or another since high school with most of my interest focused on low energy behavior.  It wasn't until I started teaching an introductory physics course in 2007 that I gained a whole new appreciation for the historical development of ideas we sometimes take for granted (and stop questioning).  

I decided to take another look at the implications of the discovery of the positive electron (Anderson , 1932).  My new hypothesis can be simply stated that electric charge is not a fixed property of subatomic particles like the electron (we are beginning to discover phenomena that might indicate this and be best described by the charge state of the electron being able to be changed). I feel that our whole conceptual foundation of "antiparticles" and "antimatter" is wrong.  The reason antiparticles seem so rare is simply because they always have been -- they may be just another state of "regular" particles.  We are beginning to see a larger asymmetry than expected in antiparticle production in accelerators (as reported in recent NY Times and APS articles).  We really have no idea about what things were like at the beginning of the "Big Bang" (although we put on a good front).  I think that the “hand waving” interpretation of the negative energy solutions of Dirac's equation for the electron incorporating relativity (1928) has misled physics since the early 1930's.

I had hoped to find some supporting evidence in the form of the gamma ray signature of annihilation (no one has made the needed measurements). It would not be that difficult or expensive to establish the validity of this new property of the electron one way or the other.

The Ultimate (Green) Energy Source

A Solution Based on a Proposed New Property (Behavior) of the Electron

I am sharing just the essence of a potential new electron behavior which could reshape our entire energy future. When I originally posted this, I did not have the time or means to pursue this (I am just another victim of the financial fiasco created by the greed & fraud on Wall Street). The Gulf of Mexico catastrophe should be a wake up call about the ridiculous lengths we will go to find oil (a primitive substance that needs to be replaced as an energy source) – this critical need is my primary motivation for sharing my idea now in its very unfinished and speculative state.

We have been extremely successful at using and manipulating the electron – it is the technological foundation of our civilization. The electron may have one more trick for us exploit. A re-interpretation of the discovery of the positive electron (positron) could indicate that the charge state of the electron can be manipulated as well – something that could have an extraordinary impact on our energy future (as well as world politics and physics). The dream of science fiction writers has been to exploit the annihilation reaction* (in this case between negative and positive electrons). Unusual discoveries made since the 1980’s may give us both the proof and insight into how to change the charge state of the electron and, in the process, hopefully yield an inexhaustible and inexpensive source of positive electrons resulting in a revolutionary energy source.

“The Electron and Electric Charge -- A New Perspective ” (PDF)

Beginning in June 2010, this information has been shared with people in the DOE, PCAST and others. New research (2012) by a group at Harvard may be the first real evidence that this is a real property of the electron.

"Transforming an Electron into a Positron: A New Paradigm for Physics" (PDF)

Cheap limitless energy would not only be the solution to our energy needs, but to our economic problems as well as the questionable politically decisions that seem to be dictated by whether a country has petroleum resources (i.e., economic prosperity and possible world peace). It would also solve nuclear proliferation (no need for reactors), our freshwater needs (makes widespread desalination feasible), eliminates our electrical infrastucture vulnerablility (no large grids would be needed), and would serve as a replacement for the battery.

"New Physics of the Electron" (APS April 2020 Meeting Quarks 2 Cosmos) PDF