DARK MATTER

and

OTHER ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

Elementary Particle Spatial Model (EPSM)

by Lee Schroeder

 

Send comments to:leehschroeder@yahoo.com

"Dark Matter and Other Elementary Particles" develops a spatial model of the elementary particles (e.g., proton, neutron, electron, quarks, nuclides, and mesons) for particle physics much as the "ball and stick" model provides to chemistry. Although the overall model is based upon a few simple assumptions, the effort leads to the development of spatial models for quarks, elementary particles and atomic nuclei that show attributes and predictions that are not provided by other spatial models.

The overall model will be called the "Elementary Particle Spatial Model" and will be abbreviated as EPSM throughout this effort to distinguish the models from the actual particles. Because new EPSMs build upon previous EPSMs, the first dozen or so EPSMs are very important to the understanding of the concept. The spatial models in this effort were made from plastic tubing; however, the actual "shape" of the model pieces is not what is important to the hypothesis. What is important is the relationships or relative positions of the model segments. If the spatial models were made with different materials, even the smallest of strings, then the models could have very different appearances but still have the same underlying structure.

Similar to chemistry's "ball and stick" models, the spatial models developed in this effort are metaphors and are not based upon mathematics. Hence, some readers may be less comfortable and other readers more comfortable with the development of the models. Although chemistry's "ball and stick" models do not lead to a framework for a mathematical understanding, they do help to visualize the underlying chemistry. Hopefully, the spatial models developed here might be as useful and maybe even provide a framework for others to add to mathematically.

Notes: 1) In order that the Greek alphabet letters can be read, please set your browser preference to use page-specified fonts.

2) The symbol * is used to indicate an "anti-" particle.

Table of Contents

 

PART 1 - ELEMENTARY PARTICLE SPATIAL MODEL

Section 1. BACKGROUND - BILLIARD BALLS WITH ENGLISH

Section 2. SPACE

Section 3. THE HUNT FOR THE STABLE PROTON

Section 4. THE PROTON TO NEUTRON METAMORPHOSIS

Section 5. MORE ABOUT THE PROTON AND NEUTRON EPSMs

Section 6. ALL AROUND UP AND DOWN

Section 7. THE STRANGE QUARK OF MATTER

Section 8. THE CHARM OF MATTER

Section 9. THE THIRD GENERATION, STRINGS AND DARK MATTER

PART 2 - ELEMENTARY PARTICLE SPATIAL MODELS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI

Section 10. INTRODUCTION TO NUCLEI AND HYDROGEN BURNING

Section 11. LAYERS AND RINGS

Section 12. HELIUM BURNING AND THE C-N CHAIN

Section 13. CARBON BURNING, SILICON BURNING AND MAGIC

Section 14. FINAL WORDS, GLOSSARY, AND THE GREEK ALPHABET

Keywords: science, physics, particle physics, elementary particles, models, metaphors, proton, neutron, electron, mesons, quarks, atomic nucleus, nuclides, dark matter, strings, dimensions, hydrogen, helium