A functional class of particles,
the "Alternative Charge Carriers" (ACCs), is recognized as
characteristic of the Electroweak domain and the Weak Force
Intermediate Vector Bosons (IVBs).
We live in a universe dominated by electromagnetic
energy. Atomic matter is only a bound form of light, as shown by
matter-antimatter annihilations, the conversion of mass to light
by the Sun and stars, high energy particle collisions at CERN,
Fermilab, etc., and the equations of Einstein, Planck, and
deBroglie (E = mcc, E = hv, hv = mcc).
In this paper we are interested in the origin of baryonic matter
and its subsequent fate (baryons are heavy nuclear particles
composed of three quarks, like our "ground-state" protons and
neutrons). Of special interest is the role of the Higgs boson and
the weak force IVBs (Intermediate Vector Bosons, the field vectors
or force carriers of the weak force). We envision the origin of
our universe as a pulse of light (free electromagnetic energy)
emanating from a Multiverse (not unlike the Genesis creation
story). The Multiverse essentially serves as a "scientific" or
rational version of an absolute, universal, creative Deity.
"Multiverse" (as I use the term) refers to the domain of all
possible universes, of which the "set of all possible
electromagnetic universes" may comprise but a single energetic
"genus". We use the concept of the Multiverse to afford a
"rational" explanation for the "Big Bang" origin of our universe
and its many "life friendly" physical laws and delicately balanced
constants.
We know that free electromagnetic energy (light) exists in two
forms: 1) a pure 2-dimensional transverse wave form of radiant
energy traveling freely in spacetime with "intrinsic" (entropic)
motion "c"); and 2) a "virtual particle" form composed of pairs of
matter/antimatter particles (such as electron/positron virtual
pairs) which incessantly form, then annihilate each other in a
symmetry-conserving cycle (Heisenberg/Dirac virtual
particle-antiparticle pairs). In the early high-energy universe,
these matter/antimatter particle pairs were "real" rather than
virtual.
Light is the most symmetric form of energy known, having no mass,
no time dimension, carrying no charges, having no location in
spacetime (light is "non-local" and a-causal), and producing no
gravitational field (when in free flight). Because real
(rather than virtual) particles have an asymmetric (one-way) time
dimension, carry mass and hence produce a metric-warping
gravitational field which identifies their spacetime location
(particles are "local" and causal), and furthermore carry various
charges, particles represent an asymmetric form of bound
electromagnetic energy. Hence when light is converted into
particles - as happened during the "Big Bang" birth of our
"matter-only" universe - there results an enormous reduction in
the symmetry of the energy so converted. According to "Noether's Theorem",
the symmetry of electromagnetic energy must be conserved no less
than its total energy, so there are numerous conservation
consequences to such a conversion: The charges of
matter are symmetry debts of light.
Matter/antimatter annihilations are symmetry conserving/restoring,
returning the asymmetric, bound particle form of energy to the
symmetric free wave form (light) which originally created it. Free
electromagnetic energy is able to exist in two forms (wave and
virtual particle pairs) only because the essential symmetry of
light is maintained via continuous matter/antimatter annihilation
of the virtual pairs.
It is easy to see that the potential for manifestation exists
within these two forms of electromagnetic energy, especially in
the high-energy early universe when the particle-antiparticle
pairs are real. Furthermore, it is easy to see that the symmetry
of light and its constantly forming and annihilating
particle/antiparticle pairs must somehow be broken if the Cosmos
is to manifest in terms of elementary particles, atoms, planets,
stars, galaxies, life, etc. During the "Big Bang", the potential
to create baryonic matter from high-energy light was realized,
probably through a weak force asymmetric decay involving
electrically neutral "leptoquarks" (a leptoquark is
the heaviest member of the "leptonic spectrum"), in which
anti-leptoquarks decayed faster than leptoquarks, leaving the
latter to become the baryons of our "matter-only" universe.
I suggest a
(speculative) pathway in which high-energy electrically
neutral leptoquarks decay asymmetrically via the weak force "X"
IVBs to produce the hyperon/baryon excess of our "matter only"
universe. This pathway also addresses the relationship between
leptons and quarks (quarks are derived from split, primordial,
heavy leptons (= leptoquarks)), and the conservation of baryon
"number" charge via leptoquark antineutrinos, suggesting the
latter constitutes the mysterious "dark matter". The reason for
the "three families" or energy levels of particles (as in
electron, muon, tau) is also discussed in terms of the production
of sufficient numbers of electrically neutral leptoquarks to
create the quantity of matter (galaxies) we observe. However, the
actual mechanism of the asymmetric decay of primordial
electrically neutral leptoquarks remains a mystery: (why do
anti-leptoquarks decay faster than leptoquarks?).
In this paper we are interested only in the fate of baryons
(including "hyperons" or heavy baryons) after the asymmetric
events of the "Big Bang" have produced the matter excess of our
universe (including a leptoquark antineutrino excess - the
presumed mysterious "dark matter" complement). We are born into a
world of baryons (the protons and neutrons of the Periodic Table
of the Elements), and live in the electromagnetic (chemical)
"ground state" of the electroweak domain. The electroweak domain
includes the nuclear energies of the Sun and stars, whereas
biological life is possible only in the chemical energy domain of
the atom's electron shell, and the gentle gravitational embrace of
planets like Earth.
Of course our "matter only" cosmos constitutes a universal state
of asymmetry ("original sin"), which has major consequences for
our material world - the charges and forces of matter for
instance, including local (stationary/causal) mass, time, and
gravitation (death and taxes). The universal drive to restore the
symmetry of our matter-only universe is its primal motivating
force - matter's eternal search for antimatter (via electric
charge and gravity).
The charges
of matter are symmetry debts of light. These symmetry
debts must be maintained in full force until they are repaid
completely, but symmetry debts (in the form of conserved charges)
have a singular virtue (from a human perspective), in that they
give the universe a time/historical dimension (buy now, pay
later), whereas energy debts are not so forgiving (buy now, pay
now - as in the case of virtual particles). The important
concept of "Information" in the Cosmos (which exists
primordially as "charge" and manifests crucially and spectacularly
in the Periodic Table of the Elements), may be seen as nothing
less than matter's guide and road-map back to antimatter and the
symmetry of light. "Information" would appear to be the rational
concept closest to our intuitive notion of "spirit", and
Information is also a conserved property in physics.
Elementary Particles
There are only three known massive elementary
leptonic particles (electron, muon, tau), although a primordial
fourth (the leptoquark) probably existed at the very beginning of
the Cosmos. These massive leptonic particles exist in an energy
series, with the electron the lightest and the (putative)
leptoquark the heaviest. I refer to this series as the "leptonic
spectrum" of elementary particles - many other particles
(neutrinos, quarks) are derived from this primitive spectrum,
which is obviously some sort of "harmonic" series. The massive
leptons are accompanied by the (nearly) massless neutrinos, a
separate, matching neutrino for each species of massive lepton.
Neutrinos serve as "Alternative Charge Carriers" ("ACCs") for the identity charges
of the masive leptons. The neutrino identity charges are how
we know the leptonic spectrum is truly elementary - the
sub-elementary quarks have no associated neutrinos. (Leptoquark
neutrinos encoded the primordial leptoquark number charge before
the quarks separated from one another, and hence now encode baryon
number charge, which subsumes the partial number charges of the
quarks.)
It is a remarkable fact, little appreciated, that every electron
in the universe (and there are a lot of them!) is exactly like
every other - and likewise all other elementary particles are
identical (within type) one to another. How is this accomplished -
not only eons ago but yesterday, today, and on into the indefinite
future; and in reactions producing single leptonic
particles, not just particle/antiparticle pairs? Obviously, some
universal regulatory mechanism is at work, keeping the universe
simple and precise, at least in terms of its elementary particle
content. Establishing ("gauging") and maintaining the uniformity
of the "particle metric" is the (very necessary) regulatory role
of the Higgs boson and the weak force IVBs. Every electron must be
able to "swap out" with every other electron, no matter when or
where it was created, and similarly for all other elementary
particles (within type). While "swapping" is a
symmetry-maintaining interaction, the same considerations apply to
annihilation reactions with anti-particles, the ultimate
symmetry-conserving interaction. The uniformity (within type)
between all elementary particles is a universal symmetry embedded
within the even greater asymmetry of our "matter-only"
universe, and it is apparently due to the regulatory action of the
Higgs boson, its associated IVBs, and the weak force
creation/transformation mechanism generally.
The regulation of decays and interactions among and between
baryons is due to the action of the weak force IVBs (Intermediate
Vector Bosons) and their agents, the Alternative Charge Carriers
(ACCs). The IVBs access or "sample" the ACCs within the
Heisenberg-Dirac virtual particle domain of spacetime (leptons,
neutrinos, mesons), and use these to regulate baryon interactions
(such as hyperon decay, or neutrons decaying into protons, or the
reverse). (See: "The "W" IVB and
the Weak Force Mechanism".) Carbon atoms (nuclei) created in
our galaxy today are the same as those created in any other galaxy
or cosmic era, because the Higgs boson, the IVBs, and the ACCs are
the same everywhere and everywhen. The Higgs boson is the same
universally because it marks the convergence of the weak and
electromagnetic forces, a universal constant. The convergence of
these two forces allows movement and identity, and hence the
possibility of conservation for the charged leptons. Leptons
cannot exist by themselves, however, because they cannot escape
their own matter-antimatter symmetry (and consequent
annihilation). For that, the quarks and the strong force must be
added to the mix (via leptoquarks),
as the partial charges of the quarks present the possibility of
electrically neutral particles (such as the neutron), which can
live long enough to undergo asymmetric weak
force decays.
Because baryons (composite particles consisting of three quarks
like protons and neutrons) are massive (heavy), they produce a significant
gravitational field which, because it is universally
attractive ("warping" the spacetime metric itself), builds all the
megastructures of the Cosmos (planets, stars, galaxies, etc. -
see: the gravimetric series ). In the stellar furnaces (and
supernovas), all the elements of the Periodic Table are built (of
baryons) and dispersed. Hence baryons control both the mega- and
the micro-architecture of the universe, and because they also
control the electron shell structure of atoms (via the positive
charges of protons), they are the foundation of the Information Pathway
leading to life and consciousness. In addition to our life
depending upon the cooler and gentler chemical regions (hydrogen
bonds, etc.) of the electromagnetic ground state within the
electroweak domain, we also depend upon the gentler gravitational
conditions near the bottom of the gravimetric series (planets with
atmospheres). Life is both precious and fragile. (Of course, we
also depend (for heat and light) upon the high-energy nuclear
reactions of our sun - safely removed 93 million miles.)
Gravity, as a negative energy "well", also profoundly affects
baryons in stars (where they combine to build the elements of the
Periodic Table), and in the "condensed matter" states of white
dwarfs and neutron stars, and ultimately in black holes, where
baryons finish their extraordinary journey through the Cosmos,
having built not only the planets, stars, and galaxies, but life
itself. Baryons return to light through "Hawking radiation",
which, because time stands still in a back hole, is an explosive
event from the perspective of the black hole's "event horizon".
Postscript II:
The huge, anomalous masses of the IVBs and the Higgs boson (80,
90, 125 proton masses) tells us that these particles are not part
of our ground-state electromagnetic world, not even part of the
domain of our atomic nuclei, at least not in their normal ground
state. The IVBs must come from an earlier, much more primitive
era, smaller, hotter, and far more energy-dense than our own,
probably only a few micro-moments removed from the "Big Bang",
during the time when massless, free electromagnetic energy (light)
was somehow being converted to massive, bound particles of
electromagnetic energy (leptons,
quarks, leptoquarks). How this was done remains a mystery:
massless, a-temporal, 2-D photons with intrinsic/entropic spatial
motion "c" were converted to massive, temporal, 4-D particles with
no intrinsic spatial motion but with (in compensation) an
intrinsic/entropic motion in time. Whatever this conversion
mechanism may be, it operated only in the very early universe at
very high temperatures and energy densities. However, a (virtual)
remnant of this early conversion force can still be found today,
making real transformations and creating/destroying single
elementary particles from the virtual particle "sea" by the
mediation of electroweak IVBs (W+, W-, Z neutral).
People find it hard to believe that the Higgs or IVBs are real
particles or part of an actual mechanism; but that is because
these particles are not in fact "real" today - they were "real"
ages ago in the early universe. The Higgs and its associated IVBs
are only virtual particles and processes today - although they
still cause real transformations. (They can be made real again
today, but only if we supply them with enough energy in our big
"atom smashers" - recreating their original environment.) Very
early in the history of our universe, the Higgs emerged to define
our electroweak domain, with its IVBs and associated ACCs and
other EW particles - following on from even earlier domains,
earlier and other Higgs, and earlier and other IVBs, which had
created baryons and leptoquarks and our matter-only
asymmetric cosmos. All these choices were constrained by
conservation considerations: these are the particles, forces,
charges and fields which can be conserved - returned to the light
and Multiverse which created them. We don't see the Higgs anymore,
because its work was done in the very early universe, even before
the IVBs appeared. We need only go back as far as the IVBs (in
virtual interactions) to perform nuclear transformations. The
selection (by the Higgs) of the electroweak convergence energy and
its associated IVBs predates any less massive particles, and we
just don't need to see them anymore in our ground-state EM
universe - their work has already been accomplished (unless a
nuclear transformation is required, or a new single
elementary particle needs to be minted).
The huge masses of the Higgs and IVBs reprise the energy-density
of the early Cosmos, even before the time the ACCs were first
being created. The Higgs "gauges" and recreates the electroweak
"symmetric energy state", the energy at which the weak and
electromagnetic forces converge. At this energy, all lepton
species are merged into a single leptonic "genus", and likewise,
the quark species are merged into a single quark "genus". These
two "genera" do not mix at this level - they mix only at the next
higher (earlier) level, the level of the "GUT" or "Grand Unified
Theory", where the strong force joins the electroweak force in a
three-way convergence. (See: "The Higgs Boson and
the Weak Force IVBs). The IVBs are able to make identity
transformations among the elementary leptons and quarks because
individual species identity is fluid within the generic "symmetric
energy state". Today, (virtual) IVBs, because of their similar
mass-energy, are able to access this "vacuum" particle pool and
take what they need to effect (real) transformations. These
IVB-mediated interactions essentially connect the early with the
modern-day universe, ensuring that every electron (for example)
created today is identical to those created eons ago in the "Big
Bang" - maintaining a necessary and universal symmetry among
elementary particles (within type). The same mechanism that made
the first electrons makes electrons today. This is how the
entropic forces of 14 billion years of spatial and historic
expansion, cooling, and decay are circumvented. Postscript III:
In a financial analogy describing the function of the weak force
transformation/creation mechanism, the Higgs boson is like the top
official of a government mint, deciding what coins will be struck,
using what metals and what images, and in what denominations and
weights. The IVBs are like the heavy currency presses; and the
virtual particle "zoo" of spacetime is the mint warehouse where
the raw materials and the dies for the presses are stored. A
heavy IVB accesses a significant part of the energy regime of the
Higgs domain (because of their similar masses), specifically that
energy density at which the particle it seeks to replicate was
first created. The mint warehouse supplies the IVBs with the
proper weight of raw material for the particle it will stamp out -
the same material and weight that created the first particle of
its type, and that will also create the last. The heavy IVB
reproduces the primordial energy density of the universe when the
required particle was first created, and finds therein a virtual
particle (the "die" from the spacetime "particle metric" or "mint
warehouse") of the original type and energy to exactly reproduce
the particle it seeks. By this means (the invariant mass or
energy-density of the IVBs, plus the invariant particle "zoo" of
the spacetime "vacuum"), the universal and necessary
symmetry (sameness) among elementary particles is maintained
throughout the eons of the Cosmos.
1) The ultimate function of the Higgs boson is therefore to
provide an invariant source of particles of a given type and
energy (the "Bureau of Standards" role). This is possible because
the Higgs is a scalar boson marking or "gauging" the confluence of
two natural forces, the electric and weak. This convergence will
be at the same energy everywhere in the universe and for all
times. Furthermore, because the Higgs itself is a particle, or
form of bound energy, it is impervious to the entropic expansion
of the universe over time, and its energy-density can be well
defined (quantized). The Higgs simply sets a universal standard to
which the IVBs must rise. (The IVBs must have the correct
mass-energy to fish in the Higgs virtual particle "sea"). In turn,
the IVBs supply universally invariant (single) elementary
particles to reactions, transformations, and other interactions
they mediate. It should be reasonably obvious, from the standpoint
of energy and symmetry conservation, why all elementary particles
(of a given type) must be identical. Electrons produced today (for
example) must be able to seamlessly exchange places with those
created eons ago during the "Big Bang", or annihilate at any time
or place with an ancient positron (antiparticle) .