Elementary electric dipoles.

Abstract

The fundamental particles we know are electric monopoles and/or magnetic dipoles, but dark matter might contain the converse particles. Light electric dipoles, like neutrinos, could be abundant yet elusive. They would be attracted into polar substances (e.g., water) and strong electric fields, (e.g., in cell membranes), where they would alter dielectric constants. Experiments on five common substances after connection to supposed biological source of these particles at field gradients of up to 8kV/cm confirmed these predictions.

Introduction

Although Maxwell's equations in free space are symmetrical as between electric and magnetic field strengths, the symmetry is broken in the matter we have observed. (1) We have seen electric monopoles (e.g., electrons, protons) and magnetic dipoles (particles with spin), but not the converse particles. Could the latter also exist, and be a constituent of the pervasive but mysterious dark matter? (2) Magnetic monopoles have not been detected, but they may be too heavy to be produced in our particle accelerators. But light electric dipoles, a symmetry partner of neutrinos, could be abundant yet elusive. So far as I am aware, they have not been searched for. There are scraps of circumstantial evidence, which may suggest their existence. (See later.) Here I will report some experiments on dielectric constants, which definitely support this hypothesis.

If dions (as I shall call them) exist, qualitative predictions can be made:

1. Dions would be attracted into electric fields where they would act as a dielectric.

2. Metals with their mobile electrons would conduct dions well.

3. Non-polar electric insulators such as polyethylene, paraffin oils or many gases would be insulators of dions.

4. Liquids consisting of polar molecules such as water or ethanol would absorb and conduct dions.

5. Dions in organisms would congregate in aqueous environments or in the strong electric fields (about 100,000 V/cm.) across cell membranes. They would be absorbed preponderantly from fresh foods, and would be excreted in moist breath, urine and sweat. This is not the place to speculate at length on their possible biological functions, but one might expect them to play a role in electrical signaling within and between cells.

6. Some predicted measurable effects are:

a. On the surface tension, viscosity and dielectric constant of water and other polar liquids.

b. On the electrical conductivity of semiconductors.

c. In metals perhaps a slight softening and increase in thermal conductivity.

d. A cloud of atmospheric dions would refract light. (Could this effect be perceived by some people as "auras?")

Background

Robert Miller measured various properties of distilled water in an open glass beaker before and after one of two treatments: Immersing stirring magnets for four and a half hours, or an individual's holding two steel rods in the water for three minutes. (3) There were reductions in the surface tension and the percentage of hydrogen bonding, and inconstant effects on the electrical conductivity and the capacitance of the water. The surface tension gradually reverted to normal over 24 hours. The effects did not occur in steel beakers, or if the two steel rods were touching. (See also William Tiller. (4))

Miller, a professor of chemistry, no doubt conducted his experiments carefully, though his interpretation in terms of an unknown "paraelectric" energy is vague. A simple explanation is provided by dions, which would reduce the electrostatic attraction between the water molecules. A slight voltage gradient normally exists between the two hands or would have been produced by magnets moving in water; this would have attracted some dions from the atmosphere or the experimenter's hands into the water.

In 1980, independently of this work, I formulated the dion hypothesis and did some rough experiments on dielectric constants, which seemed to support it. But receiving little professional encouragement, I dropped the project until recently when my interest was revived by a chance encounter with Miller's work.

I have done a fresh experiment. The hypothesis to be tested was that dions exist and affect dielectric constants. The experiment searched for differential effects due to the presence or absence of a putative source of dions, in five substances at a range of voltage gradients. The effects were expected to be more prominent in polar liquids and at higher voltage gradients, which would attract more dions.

Methods

Five condensers were prepared from small plastic bottles. One was empty; the other four contained 25 ml. of glycerol, ethanol (methylated spirits), olive oil or paraffin oil. After central electrodes were inserted each bottle was sealed with epoxy resin. An external grounded metal sheet was the other electrode. The minimum interelectrode separation was about 0.6 cm.

Each condenser in turn was charged (negatively) from a calibrated D.C. power source to a range of voltages up to 5kV. A coulomb meter then measured the charge. This was done three times and three more times with the addition of a putative source of dions--an apple penetrated by a wire and connected (during the charging process only) to the live terminal of the condenser. Crosschecks were made with an electrometer and a capacitance meter.

Care was needed for several reasons: (a) Polarization of viscous liquids may take several seconds to develop. (b) Considerable space current builds up from all live terminals when the apple has been connected; charge measurements must be speedy. (c) Dions (if that is the correct interpretation) can leak into the measuring apparatus, alter capacitances, and cause a malfunction. (See the experiments below.) (d) After connection to the apple a substance may retain its altered characteristics all day. (e) Heavy exposure to these effects may have unforeseen biological consequences.

Results

The capacitances obtained are shown in the Table, calculated by:

Capacitance (pF)=Charge (nCoulombs)/Voltage (kV)

A single figure is sufficient (if the three readings differed by more than 1 pF, which happened only four times, the observations were repeated). The normal dielectric constants are also given. Where a question mark is given (Air, 4-5kV) the Coulomb meter always malfunctioned, giving several widely different readings in quick succession rather than a single figure.

A correction needs to be made for the dielectric effect of the plastic bottles. Each measured system (M) can be approximated as two condensers in series: the substance of interest (X) and the bottle (B). The three capacitances are related by the standard formula:

1/m = 1/b + 1/x,

b was estimated to be 29 pF by measuring the capacitance of a similar bottle containing a conductor--salty water. From these corrected values (x) of the capacitances at 1kV and at 5kV have been calculated. They are given in square brackets in the Table. For the polar liquids, x is considerably larger than m. Reassuringly, the corrected capacitances in the non-apple condition are roughly proportional to the standard dielectric constants, except that glycerol is too low.

A malfunction of the spindle electrometer led serendipitously to another repeatable phenomenon. The meter was charged to 3kV; meanwhile the apple was connected to the live terminal for 30 seconds and the metal casing was only momentarily earthed. If the live terminal was now earthed or touched, the needle abnormally continued to read about 1kV. Full discharge required the connection of the live terminal to the casing. The meter's capacitance had now increased from 1 pF to 14 pF, which had presumably caused the reluctance to discharge. It was thought that that a cloud of dions filling the air space within the meter could have increased its capacitance. A few days later the meter had returned to normal.

Conclusions

Connection of the apple made a clear and repeatable difference to three of the capacitance graphs, far greater than any of the experimental errors. Something had traveled along the wire from or to the apple. On the present hypothesis, dions from the apple had entered the condensers. I see no explanation for these results in conventional terms.

One might end here, except that the results contain further detail, which needs explanation. It will be shown how the dion hypothesis copes with this. The energetics would resemble the solvation of a polar substance (dions) in a solvent, with an additional force due to the applied electric field. Thus the paraffin oil, a mixture of hydrocarbons whose molecules are non-polar, showed no effect from the connection of the apple; dions do not dissolve in it. Olive oil, which is slightly polar, showed a moderate effect starting at 4 kV, which appeared to saturate there; dions are sparingly soluble in it.

The air condenser was unaffected by the apple connection until 4kV was reached, when the coulomb meter always malfunctioned. An explanation in terms of dions is this: At the lower voltages, dions were "dissolved" in the metal electrode; that is, some electrons were displaced into higher energy bands, leaving "holes" which were occupied by dions. At about 4kV (i.e. 6kV/cm.) dions were pulled into the air. Since this would reduce the field strength the process would be self-stabilizing. Charge measurement now would result in a surge of dions through the coulomb meter and an instrument malfunction. The surge was absent with the two polar dielectrics, which would have reabsorbed the free dions.

The ethanol condenser when connected to the apple showed a large and progressive rise in capacitance, as might be expected of a strongly polar substance.

The glycerol condenser, already noted to have an anomalously low capacitance, yielded similar graphs with and without the apple. They showed only a rise in capacitance at 5 kV. Since glycerol is often manufactured from organic materials it was suspected that the sample already contained dions, which had formed complexes with the molecules. But efforts to "pump" them out with the apparatus available were unsuccessful.

The dion hypothesis can provide partial explanations of a number of controversial 'paraelectric' phenomena. For example, electrical equipment frequently malfunctions in the presence of certain people, including Wolfgang Pauli and those who cannot wear watches because they stop. (5) Another area that invites investigation is the supposed refreshing effect of fresh foods, fountains, sea air or thunderstorms--all possible sources of dions. And the phenomena of Kirlian photography and acupuncture, so suggestive of electrical processes, have not been fully explained in these terms. (6) But these topics are too speculative to pursue until better observations become available. The first essential would be better methods of measurement and control of these phenomena.

I will leave the final comment to Newton, who almost anticipated the present approach. In his alchemical work, "The Vegetation of Metals" (circa 1669), he made similar attempts to integrate biology and mechanics.

"But so far as by vegetation such changes are wrought as cannot bee done without it wee must have recourse to som further cause ... ye immediate seat of thes operations is not ye whole bulk of matter, but rather an exceedingly subtile & unimaginably small portion of matter diffused through the masse ..." (7)

Acknowledgements:

I thank D. Bohm, J. Hasted and H. Oldfield for their comments in 1980. P. Jolly, B. Goad and P. Taylor for access in 2006 to the physics laboratory at St. Edward's School, Oxford.

References

(1.) Feynman, R.P., Leighton, R.B., and Sands, M. (1964). The Feynman Lectures in Physics, Vol. II. California: Addison-Wesley, Chapter 20.

(2.) Davies, P.E.W. (Ed.). (1989). The New Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(4.) Tiller, W.A. (1997). Science and Human Transformation. Walnut Creek, California: Pavior, 33-34, 242-253.

(5.) Pais, A. (2000). The Genius of Science. New York: Oxford University Press, 213.

(6.) Graham, H. Complementary Therapies in Context. London: Kingsley, 217-225.

(7.) Westfall, R.S. (1980). Quoted in Never at Rest: a Biography of Isaac Newton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 8.

Ian N. Marshall

57 Bainton Road, Oxford OX2 7AG, United Kingdom

E-mail: dzohar@dzohar.com

 
Table: Capacitances (pF) of the Five Condensers 
 
Substance:           Dielectric Apple 
 
Constant Used?          1 *      2       3 
 
Paraffin Oil      2.1   No    3 [3.3]   2,5 
                        Yes   3 [3.3]     3 
 
Olive Oil         3.1   No    4 [4.6]     4.5 
                        Yes   4 [4.6]     4 
 
Air                 1   No    2 [2.2]     2 
                        Yes   2 [2.2]     2 
 
Ethanol          24.3   No    17 [41]    15 
                        Yes   19 [55]    20 
 
Glycerol           47   No    15 [31]    15 
                        Yes   15 [31]    16 
 
Substance:           kV (Kilovolts): 
 
Constant Used?   4     5 * 
 
Paraffin Oil     2.7   2.7    2.6 [2.9] 
                 2.7   2.5    2.5 [2.7] 
 
Olive Oil        4.3   4.7      4 [4.6] 
                 4.7   6.2      6.3 [8] 
 
Air              2     2.1      2 [2.2] 
                 1.6    ?         ? [?] 
 
Ethanol          16   17.5      17 [41] 
                 19   22.51    23 [111] 
 
Glycerol         15   15        19 [55] 
                 15   16.5    18.5 [51] 
 
* Corrected values are given in square brackets.