[deleted]
Hi Steven,
Thanks for some challenging questions. I'll do my best to answer them, but some go beyond the level of the current development.
First, I don't think that it's fair to say that Larson's mathematics are incorrect. Actually, he loved mathematics and was much better at it than I am. However, he insisted that the new system required no new mathematical formalism, that its strength, its major contribution, was found in its clarification of physical concepts that, while mathematically valid, were not understood correctly.
Of course, the most fundamental example of this is the mathematical formulation of motion itself. Modern physics admits only the 1D motion of objects, or vectorial motion, while many natural phenomena can only be correctly understood in terms of a scalar motion concept, even though the underlying mathematics of the two is the same, in many cases.
The conceptual difference between scalar motion and vectorial motion is huge, while the mathematical difference between the two, is hardly discernible, in Larson's development of the consequences of the RST. In the new RST-based development, which we are pursuing at the LRC, this is not the case. Both the mathematical and the conceptual differences between scalar and vectorial motion are recognized as quite significant in our work.
Yet, a better characterization still would be that the conceptual and mathematical nature of the RST itself is unified intuitively, in our new development, rather than formulated. Larson repeatedly pointed out that the conceptual datum of the new system is unity, not zero, but, actually, it turns out that it is both, since the space/time ratio of s/t = 1/1 = 1 and 0, in a given physical situation. The biggest mathematical problem in legacy physics is that fundamentally incorrect physical concepts lead no where mathematically, such as in the case of singularities, where the physical ratio 1/0 cannot be defined mathematically.
This problem is ultimately overcome through the use of the physical concept of rotation, since there is no fixed order in the unit circle, and we can formulate an infinite set of size one rotations through the ad hoc invention of the imaginary number. The trouble is, the physical concept of rotation depends upon a fixed background for its existence, so there is no way to incorporate it into a background-free concept like GR.
We believe that the answer to this ancient enigma is to abandon the idea of rotation altogether, as a fundamental starting point. What this means, in a scalar context, is that, instead of building up from 0 to 3 dimensions, we start with a combination of n^3 and n^0, in the form of a pseudoscalar/scalar ratio, n^3/n^0, which contains the n^2/n^0 and the n^1/n^0 pseudoscalar/scalar ratios, as subsets.
Of course, when the space/time physical dimensions of these mathematical ratios are inverted from s/t to t/s, the magic of Lie groups and Lie algebras comes into play, which is an advantage Larson couldn't even have dreamed of. Since this enables us to leapfrog from simple equations of motion to the entities of matter and radiation in the standard model, in a mathematically consistent manner, with no singularities to plague us, and with no background required, it appears to be the best of both worlds.
One of the most impressive accomplishments of Larson's scalar rotation developments, after the derivation of the periodic table of elements and the space/time dimensions of physical constants, is the identity of the 1D, 2D and 3D scalar motions with their associated electrical, magnetic and gravitational phenomena respectively, and the explanation of the relation of 1D electrical motion with 3D matter motion, producing the 2D magnetic motion phenomenon, and vice versa, that is the coup-de-grace of his development, I think. Yet, while this tapestry of physical phenomena is amazingly woven together, like the physical theories of legacy physics, it comes up short in providing us with the perfection of the finished product that we seek.
There are still some tattered edges that remain, like the explanation of the gravitational constant, the inability to explain the energy levels of the entire atomic spectra, etc, and it's my conviction that this is due to the incorrect concept of scalar rotation, but our work is cut out for us to show that this is indeed the case.
One of the challenges we face is the explanation of the inter-regional ratio. Late developments seem to indicate that it emerges from the geometry of the tetraktys, which is very encouraging. However, it would help, if we knew how Larson measured it. As far as I can determine, no one knows this. It may still be in the ISUS archives somewhere, but if it is, Bruce Peret was unable to find it, when he went through them last year.
As far as the identity of the concept of electrical charge with Larson's concept of rotational vibration goes, it's a matter of the degrees of freedom one is able to find in the two concepts of scalar motion. In Larson's development, the linear vibration rotates two-dimensionally, then a so-called "reverse" rotation can be optionally added to this, and, finally, the reverse rotation can oscillate in its "direction" of rotation, providing for positive and negative charges in the ionization process and so on.
This works very well, if we ignore the fundamental problem that rotation cannot be scalar. By the same token, legacy physic's electrical theory works very well, if we ignore the fundamental problem that a point charge cannot exist, and that the same electrical concept required for ionization also is used to explain electrical current, even though the theoretical requirements in each case are contradictory.
What we need is a consistent theory, one that can explain the electrical charge phenomena in the context of the structure of matter, as well as in the electromagnetic context, without introducing conflicting theoretical requirements. While Larson's development is very appealing in this respect, if the same type of compromise with fundamental concepts has to be accepted, as that found in traditional theory, we don't gain all that much ground.
In the RST-based theory being developed at the LRC, we have found the degrees of freedom necessary to explain the ionization phenomenon, as can be seen from figures 1 and 2 of my essay. However, unlike in the electrical theory of legacy physics, the electron | hole concept of the new RST-based theory does not include the idea of an electron cloud. Instead, like in Larson's concept, the electrons are part of the atomic combination of scalar motions, and they don't really maintain a separate identity within the atomic structure.
Nevertheless, the concept of an uncharged electron, which has never been observed, is missing from the new development. In Larson's work, the uncharged electron explains electrical current in terms of scalar motion and has many compelling features, as it is a unit of "rotating space," moving in relation to the net time-displacement of the atoms, and is easily coaxed out of the material by acquiring a rotational vibration, the theory's definition of electrical charge.
Since the energy to drive the electrons through the conductor of an electrical current is much less than that required to ionize an atom of the conductor, legacy theory makes use of the valence concept and the electron cloud, while Larson's theory explains it via the uncharged electron, which is not part of the atom. In the new RST-based theory, there is no uncharged electron, at least as far as we now know, so I'm not sure how this will work out, but, again, I'm just following my nose here.
Regards,
Doug