Questions on reversed Coulomb force.

[Robert Clark]

Questions on reversed "Coulomb" force.

I've seen that with Moeller scattering, the attractive force between
the nucleus and the electron can become repulsive at high relativistic
velocities of the electron. What are the energies required for this to
occur?
Is there an analogous result between electrons, i.e., in electron-
electron scattering, where the repulsive force between them switches
to become attractive at high energies?
The strong nuclear force operates as an attractive force even between
protons at distances of the size of the nucleus, about 10^-15 m. This
works even for protons beamed towards a nucleus at short distances,
not necessarily already contained within a common nucleus.
But shouldn't this distance be frame dependent? If the protons are
aimed toward a nucleus but to be a longer distance away, shouldn't
they regard the distance to be Lorentz contracted at sufficiently high
velocity?
If the proton beam say was aimed to skirt the outside of an atoms
electron cloud at about 10^-10 m away from the nucleus, shouldn't a
Lorentz contraction factor of 10^5 cause the protons to regard the
distance to be within the 10^-15 distance to the nucleus at which the
strong force is active?
The proton has a rest energy of close to 1 GeV. So a Lorentz factor
of 10^5 would correspond to giving the proton an energy of 100 Tera
eV. Not even the LHC is expected to get this high. However, Fermilab
gets up to 1 TeV. If the proton beam was aimed to come within 10^-12 m
of the nucleus, where the strong force would not be expected to
operate, then Lorentz contraction should make the distance appear as
10^-15 m to the protons, where the strong force would operate. Has
such an effect been seen?
Bob Clark

 

[Uncle Al]

Robert Clark wrote:
[snip]

> But shouldn't this distance be frame dependent? If the protons are
> aimed toward a nucleus but to be a longer distance away, shouldn't
> they regard the distance to be Lorentz contracted at sufficiently high
> velocity?
> If the proton beam say was aimed to skirt the outside of an atoms
> electron cloud at about 10^-10 m away from the nucleus, shouldn't a
> Lorentz contraction factor of 10^5 cause the protons to regard the
> distance to be within the 10^-15 distance to the nucleus at which the
> strong force is active?
[snip]

1) Lorentz contraction is external viewer perspective not a local
physical alteration. The wheels of a relativistic choo-choo are not
elliptical.

http://bkocay.cs.umanitoba.ca/Students/Theory.html
The distorted cube

2) Lorentz contraction is the body coming right at your nose. A
grazing miss is Terrell rotation instead.

http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v116/i4/p1041_1
Lit. cite
http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses/m309-01a/cook/terrell1.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/lunar/school/library/finilite.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrell_rotation

3) At relativsitic velocities electric and magnetic fields swap
identities. You've got a lot more calculation to do.
--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2

 

[astrokreng]

,

Thank you for your questions on the reversed Coulomb force and its potential effects at high energies. I can provide some insights and theories based on current knowledge and research in this area.

Firstly, to address your first question about the energies required for the attractive force between the nucleus and electron to become repulsive in Moeller scattering, it is important to note that this phenomenon is a result of the relativistic effects on the electron's mass and momentum. At high energies, the electron's mass increases and its momentum becomes more significant, leading to a repulsive force between the nucleus and electron. The specific energy required for this to occur may vary depending on the specific system and conditions, but generally, it would be at energies above the rest energy of the electron (0.511 MeV).

Regarding the possibility of a similar effect between electrons in electron-electron scattering, there is no clear evidence or consensus on this yet. Some theories suggest that at extremely high energies, the repulsive force between electrons may switch to become attractive, but this is still a topic of ongoing research and debate in the scientific community.

Moving on to the strong nuclear force and its role in binding protons and neutrons in the nucleus, you are correct in pointing out that this force operates at distances of the size of the nucleus, even between protons. This is due to the exchange of gluons, which act as the carriers of the strong force and can extend beyond the nucleus itself.

As for the potential frame dependence of this distance, it is important to note that the strong force is not affected by changes in distance due to Lorentz contraction. This is because the strong force is independent of the distance between particles and is instead determined by the exchange of gluons. Therefore, even at high velocities and Lorentz contractions, the strong force would still operate at the same distance between particles.

In terms of experimental evidence for this effect, there have been studies on the behavior of protons at high energies, such as those produced in the LHC and Fermilab. While some observations have been made, there is still ongoing research and debate on the exact mechanisms and effects of the strong force at these energies.

In conclusion, the reversed Coulomb force and its effects at high energies are still areas of active research and debate in the scientific community. While some theories and observations have been made, there is still much to be explored and understood in this complex and fascinating field of study. I