alpert@chovax.DEC (01/15/86)
[] There have been stories running in the poplular press recently regarding a possible fifth force "hypercharge", claimed to be a repulsive force about 1/100 as strong as gravity. For example, the headline "Hypercharge, a new force theory, jolts physics" appeared in the Jan. 12 edition of the Philadelphia Enquirer, and mention has even found its way into a few radio news reports. I tend not to put too much fait in the medi when it comes to this sort of thing -- any physicists out there have any real info on this? (I'm not a physicist, just an interested bystander...) Bob Alpert DEC Software Services 6 Executive Campus, Rt. 70 Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-chovax!alpert
tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (01/16/86)
Also Time and Newseek this week mention it. The LA Times had a story on
the front page on 1/9 ( I think ). It gives a reference to the journal
where this was discussed ( I think it was the Jan. 6 issue of mumble
mumble Phisics mumble mumble Letters ).
Here is a summary of all I have seen:
The force is weaker than gravity, and short range ( max 600
ft ). It is repulsive. The particles that transmit it are
( will be? ) called hyperphotons. There should be enough
of these to account for a large amount of the "missing mass"
in the universe ( if one believes that there is any missing
mass... ) If one dropped a feather and a brick in a near
the earth ( an airless earth, of course ), from 30ft, the
difference in the times it would take them to fall would
be around 10E-9 seconds. The article in the Times mentioned
that this force would make protons stable.
Two experiments are cited as evidence. The first is from
1922(?) by Eotvos (sp?), which measured indirectly the rates
at which several different things fall. Some differences
between different objects were attributed to experimental
error, but new analysis indicated they might be real.
The second expriment involved measurements of gravity deep
in an Australian mine. One of Time or Newseek ( I can't
remember which, since they are almost the same :-) )
said experimental results differed from theory by about 1%,
and that the fifth force would explain these.
It would be funny if this turns out to be correct. First people thought
that a rock would fall faster than a feather, then they thought they
would fall at the same rate, and now it is the feather that falls faster!
Note: I am not a lawyer ( oops! wrong disclaimer )....
I am not a physicist. If you want to know the straigt dope,
go find the original article.
--
Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim