volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

Assis predicted that based on Weber's electrodynamics, an alternative direct-action model formulated before Maxwell, a charge accelerating inside a sphere at constant electric potential, should have a measureable effective mass. Although initially some experiments appeared in the literature that indeed claimed such an effect, all recent studies found no evidence. All experiments so far used either discharges or electrons with non-constant accelerations that could mask the existence of Assis's prediction. We performed an experiment using a Perrin tube, which produces a beam of electrons with a constant velocity that can be deflected by Helmholtz coils to hit a Faraday cup. The tube assembly was put inside a spherical shell, which could be charged up to 20 kV. Any effective mass of the electrons would have changed their position on the Faraday cup. We found no variation of the electron position within our experimental accuracy, which rules out Assis's effect by two orders of magnitude. This confirms Maxwell's theory and the fact that electrostatic potential energy cannot be localized to individual charges.

1. Boyer, T. H., "Electrostatic potential energy leading to an inertial mass change for a system of two point charges," American Journal of Physics, Vol. 46, 383-385, Apr. 1978, doi: 10.1119/1.11328.
doi:10.1119/1.11328 Google Scholar

2. Boyer, T. H., "Energy and momentum in electromagnetic field for charged particles moving with constant velocities," American Journal of Physics, Vol. 39, 257-270, 1971, doi: 10.1119/1.1986119.
doi:10.1119/1.1986119 Google Scholar

3. Page, L. and N. I. Adams, "Action and reaction between moving charges," American Journal of Physics, Vol. 13, 141-147, 1945, doi: 10.1119/1.1990689.
doi:10.1119/1.1990689 Google Scholar

4. Pinto, F., "Resolution of a paradox in classical electrodynamics," Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, Vol. 73, 1-8, 2006, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.73.104020. Google Scholar

5. Steane, A. M., "Nonexistence of the self-accelerating dipole and related questions," Physical Review D, Vol. 89, 125006, Jun. 2014, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.89.125006.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.89.125006 Google Scholar

6. Cavalleri, G. and G. Spinelli, "Inertial mass and potential energy," Lettere Al Nuovo Cimento Series 2, Vol. 18, 265-266, Feb. 1977, doi: 10.1007/BF02783441.
doi:10.1007/BF02783441 Google Scholar

7. Assis, A. K. T., "Changing the inertial mass of a charged particle," Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 62, 1418-1422, May 1993, doi: 10.1143/JPSJ.62.1418.
doi:10.1143/JPSJ.62.1418 Google Scholar

8. Assis, A. K. T., Weber's Electrodynamics, Springer, 1994, doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-3670-1.
doi:10.1007/978-94-017-3670-1

9. Sapozhnikov, V. B., "On the effective mass of an electron surrounded by a charged shell," Il Nuovo Cimento B, Vol. 108, 481-490, 1993.
doi:10.1007/BF02742806 Google Scholar

10. Özer, M., "Electrostatic time dilation and redshift," Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics, Vol. 802, 135212, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.physletb.2020.135212. Google Scholar

11. Tajmar, M. and A. K. T. Assis, "Particles with negative mass: Production, properties and applications for nuclear fusion and self-acceleration," Journal of Advanced Physics, Vol. 4, 77-82, Mar. 2015, doi: 10.1166/jap.2015.1159.
doi:10.1166/jap.2015.1159 Google Scholar

12. Assis, A. K. T., "Circuit theory in weber electrodynamics," European Journal of Physics, Vol. 18, 241-246, May 1997, doi: 10.1088/0143-0807/18/3/020.
doi:10.1088/0143-0807/18/3/020 Google Scholar

13. Smith, R. T., F. P. M. Jjunju, and S. Maher, "Evaluation of electron beam deflections across a solenoid using Weber-Ritz and Maxwell-Lorentz electrodynamics," Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 151, 83-93, 2015.
doi:10.2528/PIER15021106 Google Scholar

14. Smith, R. T. and S. Maher, "Investigating electron beam deflections by a long straight wire carrying a constant current using direct action, emission-based and field theory approaches of electrodynamics," Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, Vol. 75, 79-89, 2017.
doi:10.2528/PIERB17021103 Google Scholar

15. Baumgärtel, C., R. T. Smith, and S. Maher, "Accurately predicting electron beam deflections in fringing fields of a solenoid," Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, 1-13, 2020, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67596-0.
doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67596-0 Google Scholar

16. Mikhailov, V. F., "The action of an electrostatic potential on the electron mass," Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Vol. 24, 161-169, 1999. Google Scholar

17. Mikhailov, V. F., "Influence of a field-less electrostatic potential on the inertial electron mass," Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Vol. 28, 231-236, 2003. Google Scholar

18. Junginger, J. E. and Z. D. Popovic, "An experimental investigation of the influence of an electrostatic potential on electron mass as predicted by Weber's Force law," Canadian Journal of Physics, Vol. 82, 731-735, 2004, doi: 10.1139/p04-046.
doi:10.1139/p04-046 Google Scholar

19. Little, S., H. Puthoff, and M. Ibison, "Investigation of Weber's electrodynamics,", available: https://pdfhall.com/investigation-of-webers-electrodynamics-exvacuo_5b744a91097c471a4a8b45e0.html, 2001. Google Scholar

20. Lörincz, I. and M. Tajmar, "Experimental investigation of the influence of spatially distributed charges on the inertial mass of moving electrons as predicted by Weber's electrodynamics," Canadian Journal of Physics, Vol. 7, cjp-2017-0034, May 2017, doi: 10.1139/cjp-2017-0034. Google Scholar

21. Mikhailov, V. F., "Influence of an electrostatic potential on the inertial electron mass," Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Vol. 26, 633-638, 2001. Google Scholar

22. Weikert, M. and M. Tajmar, "Investigation of the influence of a field-free electrostatic potential on the electron mass with Barkhausen-Kurz oscillation," Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Vol. 44, 23-37, 2019. Google Scholar

23. Yatsenko, V. A., "On the effect of the charged shell on the mass of the electron," J. Samara State Tech. Univ., Ser. Phys. Math. Sci., Vol. 38, 178-179, Oct. 2005, doi: 10.14498/vsgtu401. Google Scholar

24. 3B Scientific "Perrin Tube D 1000650,", available: https://www.3bscientific.de/product-manual/1000650_EN.pdf. Google Scholar

25. Phipps, T. E., "Toward modernization of Weber's force law," Physics Essays, Vol. 3, 414-420, Dec. 1990, doi: 10.4006/1.3033457.
doi:10.4006/1.3033457 Google Scholar

26. Caluzi, J. J. and A. K. T. Assis, "An analysis of Phipps's potential energy," Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 332, 747-753, 1995, doi: 10.1016/0016-0032(95)00071-2.
doi:10.1016/0016-0032(95)00071-2 Google Scholar

27. Wesley, J. P., "Weber electrodynamics: Part III. Mechanics, gravitation," Foundations of Physics Letters, Vol. 3, 581-605, Dec. 1990, doi: 10.1007/BF00666027.
doi:10.1007/BF00666027 Google Scholar

28. Schrödinger, E., "The possibility of fulfillment of the relativity requirement in classical mechanics," Annalen der Physik, Vol. 77, 325-336, 1925.
doi:10.1002/andp.19253821109 Google Scholar

Dr. Martin Tajmar

Dr. Marcel Weikert