Hydrino theory

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Hydrino theory is a colloquial term for one aspect of a controversial Grand Unified Theory developed by Randell Mills, termed "Classical Quantum Mechanics", which is claimed to be entirely based on classical physics, rejecting well-established quantum theory. The main feature of Mills's hypothesis is its "orbitsphere" model of the electron, where atomic electrons are spherical shells of charge surrounding the nucleus. Furthermore, he claims that, using a catalyst, the electron in a hydrogen atom can reach an energy level below the ground state predicted by quantum mechanics, thereby releasing large amounts of energy — and turning the hydrogen into a "hydrino". Mills first put forth his theory in 1991, apparently to explain the purported excess heat reported by cold fusion experimentalists.[1] He later released a thousand-page book, The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics, in which he claimed to explain various wide-ranging phenomena in chemistry, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and cosmology, despite contradicting many of these theories.

Mills's theory is not accepted by the scientific community, and has been largely ignored by it. The only peer-reviewed theoretical evaluation, published in 2005 by Rathke, found "severe inconsistencies" in the theory, including a lack of "solutions that predict the existence of hydrinos". Mills has contested this paper, pointing to a sign error; the sign error does not affect Rathke's main conclusions (see below for details).

In spite of his theory's shortcomings, Mills's company (BlackLight Power, Inc.) has raised millions of dollars in venture capital and has been treated positively in the mainstream press.

Contents

[edit] The Theory

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Please see the discussion on the talk page.

[edit] The nonradiation condition

The starting point for Mills's theory is the condition of no radiation, derived from Maxwell's Equations. While a point-particle must radiate as it accelerates, an extended distribution of charge may accelerate without radiating if it satisfies the condition that the Fourier transform of the current-density function vanishes whenever its argument is lightlike (when it is synchronous with waves traveling at the speed of light). This results in an if and only if biconditional between the radiation of a particle, and the presence of the proper Fourier components. If the particle does not contain the needed Fourier components, it does not radiate, but if the particle does contain the needed Fourier components, it must radiate.

This condition has a history of study throughout the 20th century, and was first formulated by G. H. Godeke in 1964, who noted its possible implications for quantum theory. He noted:

Naturally, it is very tempting to hypothesize from this that the existence of Planck's constant is implied by classical electromagnetic theory augmented by the conditions of no radiation. Such a hypothesis would be essentially equivalent to suggesting a 'theory of nature' in which all stable particles (or aggregates) are merely nonradiating charge-current distributions whose mechanical properties are electromagnetic in origin.

Godeke goes on to conclude:

We certainly do not believe that this paper gives a sufficient foundation for hypothesizing a theory with such profound implications. Rather, we hope this paper will serve as a foundation and as a stimulus for much further investigation of nonradiating distributions.

Another paper, published in 1984, was the result of a Reed College undergraduate thesis by Tyler Abbott and his advisor David J. Griffiths. This paper explored various charge/current configurations, such as infinite cylinders with longitudinal flow, infinite cylinders with solenoidal flow, and infinite planes. The thesis concludes that the physical consequences of the nonradiation condition are far from obvious.

The paper to which Mills responded, however, was put forward by his electrical engineering professor at MIT, Herman Haus, in 1985, titled "On the radiation from point charges." Here Haus gives an alternative derivation of the condition, and points out that Cherenkov radiation can also be explained by it.

[edit] The free electron

Confining himself to the observed properties of the electron and a boundary condition for nonradiation derived from Haus' paper, Mills arrived at a new model of the electron.

The CQM electron model holds that the electron is an extended particle which in free space is a flat disk of spinning charge. It may be thought of as a continuous distribution of current loops at different radii, terminating at the edge of the disk. The magnitude of charge is highest in the center, and falls to zero at the edge. The charge distribution holds itself together by achieving a force balance between the magnetic forces that act inwards, and outward centrifugal forces.

As the velocity of the free electron increases relative to the observer, the radius of the disk decreases.

Since the charge distribution is continuous, it may be treated as a surface charge. For a surface charge, the field lines due to the charge distribution are normal to the surface, hence avoiding any Coulombic repulsion (interaction) due to neighboring infinitesimals of charge.

The de Broglie properties of the electron derive from the wavelength of the currents on the surface of the electron. Mills explains the double-slit experiment with free electrons as due to the interaction between the electron and photons which emanate from the slit. The two-slit apparatus "imprints" its classical radiation pattern on the electron beam.

[edit] The bound electron

According to CQM, when the electron is captured by a proton to form a hydrogen atom, it deforms into a spherical shell, called the 'orbitsphere', composed of a spherically-uniform, near-zero-thickness, continuous distribution of current loops. The electron achieves a stable radius through force balance of three terms, one due to the coulombic attraction of the proton, another due to the outward centrifugal force of the moving current on the surface of the sphere, and another due to the flux of the magnetic field of the proton through the sphere.

This sphere may act as a 'dynamic resonator cavity', able to absorb or emit discrete frequencies of radiation, giving rise to quantization and the basis for the excited states. Mills goes to great mathematical length to derive a spin function for the orbitsphere that produces the desired angular momentum components and the desired uniformity of charge and current density.

According to this model, excited states of the electron are charge density distributions of high and low charge density that propagate about the z-axis. These distributions exist on the surface of the orbitsphere, but reflect the spherical harmonics of quantum orbitals.

[edit] Superconductivity

According to CQM, superconductivity is due to the extended nature of the electron. In a superconductive lattice, the electron forms "ribbons" of charge/current that are nonradiative according to the condition of no radiation established by Godeke/Haus.

[edit] Hydrinos

According to Mills, a specific chemical process he calls "The BlackLight Process" allows the bound electron to fall to an energy state below that of currently accepted quantum theory, at 1/integer that of the ground state radius. These below-ground hydrogen atoms are called 'hydrinos'. The mechanism consists of a non-radiative, resonant energy transfer between a hydrogen atom and a catalyst that is capable of absorbing a certain amount of energy. As the hydrogen atom shrinks it releases energy, and the total energy released for hydrino transitions is large compared to the chemical burning of hydrogen but less than nuclear reactions. The theoretical limit on orbitsphere radius is 1/137 the radius of the conventional ground state. Allegedly, limitations on confinement and terrestrial conditions have prevented the achievement of hydrino states below 1/30.

[edit] Dark matter

According to Mills, hydrinos are the bulk of dark matter. Unlike normal matter, hydrinos do not have excited states, i.e. they do not emit light, unless they are being formed or ionized. Over 90% of the visible universe consists of ordinary hydrogen, and according to this hypothesis the remaining matter in the universe (90% of the total mass of the universe) is hydrogen in stable states below that of the typical ground state.

[edit] The accelerating expansion of the universe

Randell Mills is on record in 1995 for predicting that the universe is accelerating as it expands. His justification for this derives from the equivalence of matter, energy, and spacetime. During pair production, when a photon transforms into a positron-electron pair, spacetime itself relativistically contracts, producing a gravitational field. When matter is released as energy, spacetime expands (flattens out), effectively destroying the gravitational field. Overall spacetime is conserved. Mills claims that the accelerating expansion of the universe is due to the some 400 billion billion suns that are releasing matter as energy, flattening spacetime. Mills derives the accelerative rate of the universe, the Hubble constant, and other astronomical parameters. According to Mills, the universe expands and contracts sinusoidally over billions of years.[2]

[edit] Alleged experimental evidence

The website of BlackLight Power Inc., founded by Mills to develop hydrino technology, lists following claimed phenomena:

  • Formation of plasmas in gas cells with input energies far below that required to form such plasmas.
  • Spectral lines from gas cell plasmas which match the CQM predictions for hydrino transitions.
  • Detection of excess heat from plasma cells using water bath calorimetry.
  • New chemical compounds said to have been formed from hydrino hydrides (ie a hydrino which has captured another electron to form a negative hydride ion) which show unusual properties and structure.
  • Molecular diHydrino gas formation and detection.
  • Spectral lines from the sun's corona said to derive from hydrino transitions, also said to be the cause of the higher temperatures of the corona relative to the sun's surface contrary to scientific expectations.
  • A proposed explanation for "dark matter", a mysterious mass not visible but forming 95% of the universe with observable gravitation effects. CQM argues that hydrinos, or lower energy hydrogen comprises this "dark matter".

Mills and collaborators have published studies in which they claim only hydrino theory can adequately explain the experimental results obtained. Mainstream scientists have called into question the quality of these experiments, and maintain that the results can be explained by conventional physics.

Šišović et al have reported line broadening that contradicts Mills's models.[3]

(e, 2e), or electron impact ionization, experiments have demonstrated a radial probability distribution of the bound electron in the hydrogen atom ground state that contradicts the idea of an orbitsphere.[4]

[edit] Closed-form molecular solutions

Starting in 2005, Mills began to publish results purporting to be exact, closed-form solutions to a large number of molecular properties, such as ionization energy, bond length and bond angle, for a variety of common molecules.[5] The models, described in his book and illustrated via spreadsheets, are claimed to generate accurate values for these molecular properties using only fundamental constant values and first principles. Mainstream methods to derive these values, referred to as computational chemistry, generally rely on much more complicated algorithms and require the use of constants unrelated to fundamental values.

[edit] Timeline

[edit] 1991

On April 26, Bob Park, professor of physics and former chair of the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, wrote sarcastically:

It comes from shrinking the hydrogen atoms! This is done by getting the atoms into a state BELOW the ground state. If the shrunken atoms are deuterons, of course, they may fuse from time to time, which explains why cold fusion results are erratic. This remarkable discovery was made by Randy Mills, MD Harvard Medical School, '86 and will be published by Fusion Technology in August.[1]

[edit] Late 1990s

BlackLight establishes a 53,000-square-foot advanced chemical facility in Cranbury, New Jersey to expand their staff and research efforts. Previously the company had been much smaller and located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

[edit] 1999

Michael Jacox, assistant director of Texas A&M's Commercial Space Center for Engineering and a nuclear engineer, quoted by Erik Baard in the December 22-28 Village Voice:

Researchers at other well-known government labs also say they are afraid to speak on record about their interest in Mills's work. One said that he plans to visit BlackLight Power on his vacation time. Jacox says his team found in the materials "an anomaly that we could not explain with conventional theory but that we could explain with Randy Mills's theory. That does not necessarily validate the Mills theory, but gosh."[6]

[edit] 2000

In a Space.com article on May 23, Douglas Osheroff, Nobel Prize winner[7] and professor of physics at Stanford University, is quoted as saying:

[Mills] may be creating compounds with unusual properties. This is obviously a rather clever guy, and he may be onto something, but he seems to think it's more fundamental than it really is.[8]

Furthermore, Osheroff remained certain that hydrinos were a "crackpot idea".

[edit] 2002

A NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I study was conducted at Rowan University, led by mechanical engineering professor Anthony Marchese, to investigate the so-called BlackLight Process for use in spacecraft propulsion. The team spent some time replicating results obtained by BlackLight, Inc., such as the observation of line broadening and excess heat (although the final report stated "Additional studies are required to rule out all other possible explanations other than 'excess power' for these observations.").[9] Due to time and instrumentation constraints, they were unable to evaluate the feasibility of the BlackLight Rocket. In addition, the group consulted with BlackLight, Inc., and in some cases borrowed their equipment, so this study does not represent an independent validation of Blacklight's experimental results. A Phase II study has not been conducted.

On October 27 Bob Park wrote a follow-up:

Mills has written a 1000 page tome, entitled The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics, that takes the reader all the way from hydrinos to antigravity (WN 9 May 97). Fortunately, Aaron Barth (not to be confused with Erik Baard, the Randy Mills apologist), has taken upon himself to look through it, checking for accuracy. Barth is a post doctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute, and holds a PhD in Astronomy, 1998, from UC, Berkeley. What he found initially were mathematical blunders and unjustified assumptions. To his surprise, however, portions of the book seemed well organized. These, it now turns out, were lifted verbatim from various texts. This has been the object of a great deal of discussion from Mills's Hydrino Study Group. Mills seems not to understand what the fuss is all about.[10]

Erik Baard wrote an article for the December 6th Village Voice in which the opinions of Anthony Marchese, Rowan University mechanical engineering professor,[11] and James Viccaro, editor of the Journal of Applied Physics, were solicited. Marchese said, "Something interesting, something unexplained is happening in those cells." Viccaro defended his decision to publish Mills's paper in the then upcoming issue:

His paper underwent formal review and was accepted for publication based on review. The findings are quite interesting and the reviewers found them relevant to the field, I'm actually kind of interested to see what happens now, when the news hits.[12]

[edit] 2004-2005

A study by Jonathan Phillips of the University of New Mexico, in association with Mills, concluded that certain plasmas exhibited phenomena best explained by hydrino theory.[13] A critical comment pointing out flaws in the experiment, and advancing alternative explanations, was published in response by A.V. Phelps of the University of Colorado,[14] with a reply from Phillips.[15]

Andreas Rathke of the European Space Agency published an evaluation that appeared in the New Journal of Physics.[16][17] He concluded:

We found that CQM is inconsistent and has several serious deficiencies. Amongst these are the failure to reproduce the energy levels of the excited states of the hydrogen atom, and the absence of Lorentz invariance. Most importantly, we found that CQM does not predict the existence of hydrino states!

No formal rebuttal has been published by Mills or his supporters. However, through other channels, Mills pointed out that Rathke had made a sign error.[18] (The sign error, in equations 8 and 9, does not affect the main conclusions, derived from equations 14 and 16.) Phillips has supported Mills,[19] asserting that since Rathke is "attempting to 'map' [Classical Quantum Mechanics] onto the framework of [Standard Quantum Mechanics]", "all equations in the Rathke critique of the CQM model are misrepresentations and thus do not constitute a valid criticism".

Rick Maas, then working at environmental studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), and Randy Booker, a UNCA physicist, were quoted by The Guardian as being "left under no doubt" of the accuracy of Mills's claims. "All of us who are not quantum physicists are looking at Dr Mills's data and we find it very compelling," Maas said. "Dr Booker and I have both put our professional reputations on the line as far as that goes."[20]

Greenpeace USA Research Director Kert Davies said, "If it's wrong, it will be proven wrong, but if it's right, it is so important that all else falls away. It has the potential to solve our dependence on oil. Our stance is of cautious optimism."[20]

[edit] 2006

Blacklight Power announces it has so far raised over $50M in venture capital.[21]

In June, the subsidiary Molegos, Inc. is formed to market a molecular-modelling software application based on CQM theory. As of October, Molegos has been renamed to Millsian.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b http://www.bobpark.org/WN91/wn042691.html
  2. ^ http://www.blacklightpower.com/theory/Cosmology%20031406.pdf
  3. ^ (Eur. Phys. J. D 32:347-354, 2005, DOI:10.1140/epjd/e2004-00192-1)
  4. ^ McCarthy and Weingold, "Wavefunction mapping in collision experiments", Rep. Prog. Phys. 51, 299 (1988)
  5. ^ http://www.blacklightpower.com/theory/computation.shtml
  6. ^ http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9951,baard,11218,1.html
  7. ^ http://www.stanford.edu/dept/physics/people/faculty/osheroff_douglas.html
  8. ^ http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/blacklight_hydrinos_000523.html
  9. ^ http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/752Marchese.pdf
  10. ^ http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn102700.html
  11. ^ http://engineering.eng.rowan.edu/~marchese/
  12. ^ http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0250,baard,40444,1.html
  13. ^ Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 3095 (2004)
  14. ^ J. Appl. Phys. 98, 066108 (2005)
  15. ^ J. Appl. Phys. 98, 066109 (2005)
  16. ^ http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0505150
  17. ^ http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1367-2630/7/1
  18. ^ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hydrino/message/10253
  19. ^ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCQM/message/6
  20. ^ a b http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html
  21. ^ http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2006/01/04/blacklight_power_gets_50m_but_is_it_profound_or_utter_nonsense.html

[edit] External links

[edit] Advocacy

[edit] Critical

[edit] General media

[edit] References

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