Proton Structure Isn't Fixed

Science Alert reports that, “Physicists are about to test a hypothesis that could rewrite the textbooks.” This momentous hypothesis is that the structure of the proton varies. If the proton is in an atomic nucleus, its structure may be different than if it’s a free proton.

According to the model that I’m presenting in this blog, this hypothesis is true! To see this, we can use the standard proton model which says that the proton is composed of three quarks. When the proton is in an atomic nucleus with other protons and neutrons, the quarks in all of the nucleons interpenetrate, that is, they get all mixed up so it’s impossible to tell which quarks belong to which nucleon. That’s why it’s impossible to separate the nucleons without applying enormous force and breaking them into a zillion pieces. It’s said that they are held together by the strong force, one of nature’s four forces, along with gravity, the electromagnetic force and the weak force.

If the proposed test is well done, I predict it will succeed.

Time Goes Backwards, But Not In A Mirror

An item on Quartz reports that two separate groups of scientists have decided that there may be a “mirror universe” in which time moves backwards. That time moves backwards shouldn’t surprise readers of this blog. However, this doesn’t happen in some mirror universe, but in our very own world. As I explained here, time in our universe takes a step backwards for every step forwards, so we live in a superposition of forward-time and backward-time universes. We only see the forward-time universe because the expansion of the universe guarantees that one direction of time always has more spacetime points and therefore more particles than antiparticles. All the antiparticles were annihilated, leaving essentially no trace of the backward-time universe. However, all of the backward-time spacetime points are still around  because points don’t annihilate. This is a good thing because we couldn’t explain the stardard model without them. Follow the link for more information.

750-GeV Bunp Excites Theorists

At A Quantum Diaries Survivor, Tommaso Dorigo estimates that since the LHC collaborations announced that they had found a small bump in their data at 750 GeV, more than 200 papers attempting to explain it have appeared. He maintains a healthy skepticism about the significance of the bump and opines that most of the papers probably don’t have the answer. nor do I. He singles out one paper that he thinks is worth reading, but unfortunately, it depends on supersymmetry, which doesn’t exist.

 This sudden deluge of papers triggered by an unverified bump shows how desperate the theorists are to find something new to theorize about. They’ve had essentially nothing for thirty years, and they’re starving. It’s frustrating to watch them stumbling around in the dark when so many of the answers they’re seeking are right here.