THE DYNAMICS OF ENERGY AND MATTER EQUILIBRIUM

Brent Anderson

Albert Einstein’s insights propelled mankind into a new era of understanding with regards to the relationship of Energy and Matter. From the very beginning life on this Earth was directed by the relative abundance or not of these commodities. Success of an organism in evolutionary terms is predicated upon efficient use of resources. With the advent of mankind came an era in which this knowledge became more than just successful genetic coding. The age of science and reason, while relatively new, has allowed man’s knowledge to progress at a logarithmic pace.

Prior to Einstein’s revelation, man had promulgated laws of physics that accounted well for the macro-interactions of energy and matter, However, Einstein’s relatively simple equations stating that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared revealed that matter and energy are just different phases of the same thing. This phase change can be compared to liquid water changing to solid ice, which is a common and well understood phenomenon. A phase change from water to ice releases energy just as does the decay of Uranium to its daughter atom’s, particles and energy. The amount of energy released is vastly different in magnitude as we observe that no one has made a water to ice bomb. (This is not to ignore the fact that a hurricane, which is powered by the phase changes of water, may transfer more energy than many atomic bombs over a rather large area.)

Understanding the relationship of energy/matter must be based upon knowledge of equilibrium. These are somewhat difficult concepts to understand and internalize for many. Equilibrium is best understood through a common example, and again we will draw upon one of the most common molecules of Earth i.e. water. If one combines 2 liters of Hydrogen with one liter of Oxygen in a closed system the result will be conversion of most of the Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms to water molecules and a great deal of energy. Upon analysis of the resultant water vapor, one will always find that a small amount of Hydrogen and Oxygen remain in the atomic state, rather than in the molecular state. It would seem to the casual observer that this is remarkable, since there are few reactions that are more vigorous than this one. For a physical chemist this is the expected outcome in every chemical reaction. We must understand that for this reaction there is an equilibrium constant that is never violated as long as other variables (temperature, pressure, etc.) are held constant. Ultimately then if one starts with a closed system with only water vapor, upon sampling the vapor, one will always find elemental Hydrogen and Oxygen which, were formed from water molecules that have split apart after absorbing energy. Another analogy could be envisioned by floating a piece of wood in water. The wood will always float at a level where the amount of displaced water weighs the same as the weight of the wood. This is the equilibrium point for that particular closed system and no matter how many times the wood is lifted or submerged and then released it will always return to that point. Equilibrium in chemical or physical reactions is always defined mathematically and each such closed system has a mathematical constant that defines it. Further, the end equilibrium of the closed system represents the lowest entropy of that system at that moment in time.

When we consider the reaction defined by Einstein’s equation (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared), we anticipate that we will again find an equilibrium constant. In this case the equilibrium favors energy over mass, and so in fact we observe that when we initiate this reaction by collision of high energy photons (energy) that mass is created but always in the form of one particle of matter and a matching particle of anti-matter. These particles are strongly attracted to each other by electrical and other atomic strong forces and, unless separated by some outside force, they annihilate each other, releasing all the original energy as a new photon. If the matter and antimatter particles are isolated from each other then particles become infinitely stable.

The fact that there is so much matter in the observable universe has puzzled physicists, for they cannot find the anti-matter that also must exist as a balance to our matter. This inequality has been explained by some in a rather strained premise that lacks the beauty and symmetry that we observe in the universe, that is that matter is slightly favored over antimatter in the conversion of energy to mass.

Once a large amount of mass accumulates in a relatively small volume of space-time another process begins. This process is at first a function of the strong forces that lead to Hydrogen atoms. These steps release an amount of energy that is reflected as a slight decrease of mass. Each step in the process of combining Quarks to form protons, electrons or heavier atoms releases energy at the expense of mass. This process is the source of the energy we see coming from our Sun. All suns generate energy through the conversion of lighter elements to heavier elements. This process requires that tremendous amounts of mass be compressed and heated by gravitational collapse. (It is surprising to most that gravity, which rules our lives, is the weakest of the forces associated with mass.) Within our star, compression and heat cause Hydrogen to fuse into heavier atoms. And this process will continue through progressively heavier atoms up to Iron. At each of the steps a net amount of energy is released at the expense of mass, but all these releases of energy amount to a very small fraction of the initial energy that created the mass. Continued fusion’s of atoms heavier than iron requires a net input of energy, in the form of mass. When a star reaches a point when most of the light atoms have been fused gravitational collapse again takes over. The only thing stopping collapse to that point was the conversion of mass to enough energy to forestall it. As the collapse progresses, pressures force electrons and protons of the various atomic elements together into ever heavier atoms, as the collapse progresses increasing energy densities may cause a rebound in which case the star becomes a Nova or Super Nova, which ejects energy and mass in the form of surviving atoms of all atomic weights. What is left after is either a Neutron Star or a Black Hole. A neutron star is made of only neutrons (no protons or electrons), and the mass density is so immense that it is almost beyond imagination. The amount of energy trapped as mass in a neutron star is unimaginable.

The gravity-induced dent in space-time around a neutron star is very steep, but still understandable. But, as additional mass falls into the space time well a point is reached at which the energy and neutrons can no longer resist a final collapse to a state that is hard to imagine. The gravity well becomes so steep that even light is trapped and so the name for this phenomenon is a Black Hole. This is a state of lowest entropy in which time and space are also a part of the singularity of mass and energy. Within the singularity, mass, energy and space-time remain as separate and discrete phenomenon. This same scenario applies to Black Holes composed of antimatter or matter alike since both are manifestations of mass. The major difference between these forms of mass is that matter exhibits gravity while antimatter exhibits antigravity. These "weak" attractive forces are the only difference between the two forms of Black Hole. Matter is attracted by other matter through gravity but repelled by the antigravity exhibited by antimatter. Antimatter and the antigravity it exhibits attract antimatter. Gravity and antigravity are all that allow us to identify a black holes location. This lowest entropy state represents the graveyard of energy mass and space-time.

With the concepts of equilibrium, energy and mass established we will now explore other characteristics of energy and mass that may not be quit so obvious. Energy (light, photons, etc.) exists within space-time (universe) but its observed properties are completely different than those of mass. The best way to understand light is to imagine a hypothetical being who is riding a photon but who can report to us what he experiences. This entity would live a very dull existence by our standards because his report to us would be simply that the photon exists or does not exist. The reason for this bizarre report is simple in that for any and all photons there is no time or space. This is so in the heart of the primordial Black Hole or the present instant in time. A photon either exists or does not and nothing else. This is hard for us to envision because our experience as beings of mass is that we can see the effects of energy upon mass and witness its travel through space-time. We can measure the constant we call the speed of light in distance per unit of time and yet for our hypothetical observer there is no movement because there is no time or distance. If we constructed a hypothetical universe in which there was only energy we would find that we could not measure any volume or time within that universe and clearly photons would always exist. In such a universe our observer would report that his photon exists period.

When we consider mass as compared to energy, we can visualize that mass is associated with both time and space because we are creatures of mass. It is fair to say that mass generates space-time as well as gravity and the strong atomic forces. Because energy and mass are simply different phases of energy then we are not surprised that energy for all its lack of spatial time dimensions is at once trapped within the space-time generated by mass. In our universe a photon exists until it interacts with mass at which point it ceases to exist. We must be mindful that after a photon of energy strikes an atom and is absorbed as kinetic energy it becomes mass. Our hypothetical observer would only report that his photon no longer exists but if he is imbued with the ability to report on the resultant mass and its, to him, strange journey through space-time he could then tell the complete story of energy and mass.

All mass is moving within the space-time it generates. At the very center of the Big Bang event there probably exists some mass that is not moving relative to that center of expansion but even this mass will be vibrating with kinetic energy. For this hypothetical blob of mass, time is relatively moving at the maximum speed as compared to any other blob of mass in the universe. As mass moves relatively faster the time and space it generates contracts. This means that a clock attached to that mass would run slower and that distances were shorter relative to our hypothetical blob of mass at the center of universal expansion. I am sure that to most these effects must seem like those one might expect in Alice’s Wonderland. That they are observable effects of energy and mass has been proven time and again in laboratories. The fact remains that as mass falls into a Black Hole of either persuasion, its speed approaches the speed of light and time and space contract around the approaching mass, but never reaching, the point of singularity. It can never reach that absolute but is always moving toward it. Perhaps the reader can begin to understand the almost but never quite dimension-less singularity of a Black Hole. It is a phenomenon that can only occur when strong gravity or antigravity fields are generated by matter or antimatter (mass). The space time field generated by captured mass then shrinks and the approaching singularity is simply an expression of the never ending fall towards an infinitely small volume. This is the ultimate fate of the energy mass cycle of our universe if our universe is composed only of matter, which it isn’t.

To gain further insight, the reader should now progress to The Cyclic Universe. The combination of the two papers reveals the extraordinary interaction of energy and mass in our almost infinitely large universe. This relativistic marvel springs from the accumulation of knowledge gathered by those who came before us, whom we revere for their persistence in the search for truth. The truth that they and we seek comes from the ultimate source who is God and it is ours to find and describe but we can not own it only share it.