Re: Tom Roberts there seems to be something missing?

At base what is missing is your willingness to actually study some physics. Unfortunately, I know of no popular book that addresses these issues.


guskz@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I once read they said that a neutron "may" simply be one
electron and proton paired together?
Tom Roberts wrote:
A neutron is not at all an electron and proton "paired together" --
that is a hydrogen atom, not a neutron.

Randy Poe directed me to:
1. Quote from http://education.jlab.org/glossary/neutrino.html :
"During beta decay, an atom's nucleus sheds excess energy by converting
a neutron into a proton and an electron and, as scientists ****now
know***, an antineutrino."

Sure. A neutron is a collection of quarks and gluons, not a proton and an electron.


2. Quote from http://education.jlab.org/glossary/electroncapture.html
"During electron capture, an electron in an atom's inner shell is drawn
into the nucleus where it combines with a proton, forming a neutron and
a neutrino. The neutrino is ejected from the atom's nucleus."

This is an overly loose description. In particular, speaking only a little bit less loosely, that "neutron" immediately becomes indistinguishable from all the other "neutrons" in the nucleus. A more accurate description is that the quarks and gluons immediately are indistinguishable from the other quarks and gluons in the nucleus.


How come an ANTIneutrino is formed when a neutron converts into a
proton & an electron and a neutrino instead when vice-versa(converting
a proton & an electron into a neutron)? (That is if science knows the
reason why)

[Science is concerned with "how?" questions, not "why?" ones.
"Why?" is the province of theology, not science.]

There is a conservation law known as conservation of lepton number, and in the reaction:
n -> p + e- + nubar_e
we assign (electron) lepton numbers as follows: n=0, p=0, e-=1, nubar_e=-1. So this quantum number is conserved. Similarly for other such reactions, including ones involving antiparticles.

There are also (muon) and (tau) lepton numbers which are
conserved. But they are not relevant here.


As Tom Roberts said a proton & an electron paired form a hydrogen atom,
what makes it a neutron?
If it also contained another particle would make sense but instead it
EJECTS a neutrino?

A hydrogen atom cannot undergo inverse beta decay and spontaneously convert to a neutron and a nu_e, because even though the reaction
p + e- => n + nu_e
would conserve (electron) lepton number, it cannot conserve 4-momentum.

That is rigorously true if the mass of nu_e is zero. If
its mass is merely extremely small then 4-momentum can
be conserved only for initial momenta that are wildly
inconsistent with the p and e- forming a hydrogen atom.


Eric Gisse wrote:
Mabey there is a relevant conservation law?

Yes. Two of them. See above.


Vert wrote:
For a clarification of the neutrino read my original posting, "NEUTRON
COMPOSITION"

Don't bother, that's complete nonsense in gross contradiction to actual observations.


Tom Roberts
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: neutron stars
    ... The gravitational potential is only like 1/r outside the star, ... You mean the Schroedinger or Dirac equation for the electron alone, ... Doesn't his theory apply as well to neutron stars ... >> the nucleus literally goes around the electron. ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: neutron stars
    ... The gravitational potential is only like 1/r outside the star, ... You mean the Schroedinger or Dirac equation for the electron alone, ... Doesn't his theory apply as well to neutron stars ... >> the nucleus literally goes around the electron. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Tom Roberts there seems to be something missing?
    ... |>> electron and proton paired together? ... |>> Tom Roberts wrote: ... |>>> that is a hydrogen atom, not a neutron. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Tom Roberts there seems to be something missing?
    ... electron and proton paired together? ... not a neutron. ... There is a conservation law known as conservation of lepton number, ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Tom Roberts there seems to be something missing?
    ... electron and proton paired together? ... not a neutron. ... There is a conservation law known as conservation of lepton number, ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)