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Autodynamics

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Disputed science:
Autodynamics
Disciplines:
Core tenets:
The Lorentz transformation equations used in mainstream science are formulated incorrectly, causing special relativity and general relativity equations to be invalid.
Year proposed: ca. 1945
Original proponents:
Current proponents:
  • David de Hilster

Autodynamics was proposed by physicist Ricardo Carezani in the early 1940s as a replacement for Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity.

Contents

Society for the Advancement of Autodynamics

Very few papers on autodynamics have appeared in the scientific literature, after the original publication by Carezani. (A rare example from 1997 is cited below. We note that Physics Essays is a journal which traditionally publishes papers which for one reason or another cannot be readily published elsewhere.)

However, the theory has been championed outside the mainstream scientific literature by the [Society for the Advancement of Autodynamics] (SAA), an organization founded by David de Hilster of Long Beach, California. The SAA sells Carezani's two books on autodynamics at its webpage.

According to the SAA website, Carezani proposed his theory "after he found a mathematical error in Einstein's calculations for the theory of relativity." Nonetheless, as the SAA admits, "currently, there are no known physicist(sic) that support Autodynamics."

In 2005, a company called Bootstrap Productions, which is apparently owned by de Hilster, produced a documentary, [Einstein Wrong: The Miracle Year]. The film follows for one year David de Hilster and his mother "as they enter the underworld of physics to take on relativity and the icon of 20th century physics".

Main tenets of autodynamics

The primary claim of Autodynamics is that the equations of the Lorentz transformation are incorrectly formulated to describe relativistic effects, which would invalidate special relativity and general relativity. The effect of the revised equations proposed in Autodynamics is to cause particle mass to decrease with particle velocity, being exchanged with kinetic energy (with mass being zero and kinetic energy being equal to the rest mass at c). This exchange between mass and energy is the proposed mechanism underlying most of the derived conclusions of Autodynamics.

Secondary claims of Autodynamics include:

In particular, autodynamics proponents cite a 1946 experiment by William W. Buechner and Robert J. Van de Graaff which failed to observe any "missing energy" when a high-energy electron beam stopped in a calorimeter[1]; this result rejected the idea that the energy losses reported for the scattering of beta-rays by heavy nuclei could be accounted for by the emission of neutrinos (as had been suggested by Ellis & Wooster[11] and Meitner & Orthmann[12]). Although a legitimate question in the 1940s, the result is clearly consistent with mainstream relativity and the Standard Model of particle physics. Carezani claims that the results are consistent with AD[13] and, for unclear reasons, inconsistent with relativity. AD proponents generally claim that all published observations of the neutrino are due to experimental errors.

Scientific status of autodynamics

A 1999 article in the popular magazine Wired[2] quotes Pierre Noyes, a professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, as claiming "most scientists consider Autodynamics little more than a 'crackpot theory'". Despite this, Noyes et al. performed an experiment in an attempt to compare the predictions of SR and AD, but concluded that the values calculated by SR were significantly closer to what was observed[9]. Carezani later argued that the experiment was not relevant for comparing the two theories by pointing out that AD applies specifically to decay cases, yet the electrons in the Noyes experiment received energy from the external medium (klystron EM field)[10]. Nobel Laureate Dr. Luis Alvarez of the University of California, Berkeley was interested in helping Carezani design an improved version of this experiment[4]. According to Lee Smolin, a physics professor at the Perimeter Institute and adjunct at the University of Waterloo[2], that there has been "no serious attempt [by the autodynamics supporters] to make an argument or to discuss experimental data that refute their basic claims". Autodynamicists reject these claims[3].

Special relativity, in its pure form, is proven to be mathematically consistent (see the Special relativity article). Although AD supporters present several examples of purported "inconsistencies" on its Web pages, these examples do not correctly utilize SR to begin with. For example, on [7], a Lorentz contraction is incorrectly applied to the distance between a stationary observer and a moving object. On [6], the AD authors incorrectly claim that reference frames are "unnecessary" and "cannot be measured". On [8], the AD authors label a Lorentz length contraction as an "extra velocity" and attribute energy to it; this leads to the claim that SR do not conserve energy and momentum. (This claim further rests on the AD assumption that the neutrino does not exist.) However, relativistic energy-momentum conservation has been tested extensively in neutrinoless phenomena.

For these reasons, Autodynamics cannot be considered to be part of mainstream science.

Addition of Velocities in Autodynamics

According to [5], the AD Sum Velocity equation is:

[\beta_n=\sqrt^2)} ]
where [\beta=\frac]

For a body undergoing mass decay, AD relates mass, velocity and kinetic energy as follows[9]:

[ m=m_0 \sqrt]
and
[ KE=m_0c^2\bigg(1-\sqrt\bigg)]
Keeping in mind that the rest mass of a body after decay is equal to the motion mass of its preceding body (each phenomenon is observed independently [6] [7] [8]),

[ m_=m_=m_\sqrt^2}]
then if a body undergoes a number of successive decays, the kinetic energy of the resulting body must be equal to the sum of the kinetic energies of the intermediates:
[ KE_n=KE_1 + KE_2 + \cdots + KE_]
It is from the concepts of mass decay and kinetic energy conservation that the AD sum velocity equation is derived (solve for [\beta_n]). These equations are easily shown to fail when applied to real-world systems, like observations involving the distances between cars or airplanes. AD supporters respond that the theory only applies to decay phenomena.

However, this marks a very significant advantage Special Relativity has over autodynamics; at speeds much less than the speed of light, the Lorentz transformations reduce to the Galilean transformations, and Special Relativity agrees with common experience. Autodynamics does not appear to do so.

Footnotes

Caveat lector! These links are almost all to de Hilster's website. They are given here so that interested readers can verify the facts stated in the body of the article.

  1. W. W. Buechner and R. J. Van de Graaff, Physical Review 70:3-4 (1946), Calorimetric Experiment on the Radiation Losses of 2-MeV Electrons
  2. [Aforementioned Wired article about Autodynamics]
  3. [Autodynamics response to the wired article]
  4. [Report of Alvarez's Assistance]
  5. [Article on the Sum Velocity]
  6. [Article on Galilean Simplification]
  7. [Article on Frames Derivation]
  8. [Article on Superfluous System]
  9. D.R. Walz, H.P. Noyes, and R.L. Carezani, Phys. Rev. A 29:2110-2113 (1984), Calorimetric Test of Special Relativity
  10. See endnote 2 of: Ricardo Carezani, The Muon Decay muon+ -> e+ e+ e+ and Autodynamics, Physics Essays: Volume 5, no. 1, March 1992
  11. C.D. Ellis and B.A. Wooster, Proc. Roy. Soc. A117, 109 (1927)
  12. L. Meitner and W. Orthmann, Zeits. f. Physik 60, 143 (1930)
  13. [Carezani, R.L., Discussion: Energy Loss by Electrons in Absorber]
  14. Ricardo Carezani, Autodynamics: Fundamental Basis for a New Relativistic Mechanics, ISBN 0-9665533-0-6
  15. Ricardo L. Carezani, Autodynamics - A Storm in Physics, ISBN 0-9665533-4-9
  16. [Autodynamics home page]
  17. [Autodynamics FAQ]

See also

References

External links

Promoting autodynamics:

Critical of autodynamics:

 

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