From: et@teal.csn.org (Eric H. Taylor)
Subject: The Theories are Full of Holes
Followup-To: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Summary: So just what is an electron hole anyhow?
Keywords: electrons, holes, anti-matter, positrons
Organization: 4-L Laboratories
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 12:48:41 GMT

                    THE THEORIES ARE FULL OF HOLES
                                or
            ARE HOLES VIRTUAL PARTICLES, OR ARE THEY REAL?

In reviewing Dirac's theory, I have realized several fundamental questions.
Basically, I always thought that there was matter and there was anti-matter.
The question of what "electron holes" are is something that I am now asking.

According to Dirac, there are four states of entity:

1. Occupied   state of positive energy (eg, electron,      charge -)
2. Unoccupied state of positive energy (eg, electron hole, charge +)
3. Occupied   state of negative energy (eg, positron,      charge +)
4. Unoccupied state of negative energy (eg, positron hole, charge -)

We generally think that of matter as electrons, etc and anti-matter
as positrons, etc. However, states 2 and 4 are just as valid. Are they
anti-matter? Not exactly.
Question: what is the mass of an electron hole or positron hole?

Consider: an electron will annihilate a positron with an anti-matter release
of energy equal to 2*m*c^2.
Question: under what conditions (other than separation) will an electron
NOT annihilate a positron?

Consider: semiconductors (especially p-type) are full of holes. An electron
and an electron hole will trade places during an interaction, but neither
are destroyed. Normally, we model a hole as a missing electron, with no
mass, and charge provided by an (immobile) proton. As a hole moves about,
its charge is provided by neighboring (immobile) protons. In this case,
the hole is a virtual particle, and is limited to the presence of mass.
In other words, a hole is a charge carrier that does move, but the charge
provider is protons that do not move.
Questions: Can an electron hole persist (or exist) without the presence
of a nucleus? Will an electron hole current flow thru a metal conductor
as easily as electrons do? What role(s) do electron holes play inside of
superconductors (metal or ceramic)? If I ran a current of electron holes
thru a resistor, would I get I^2*R cooling instead of heating? If I ran
a current of electron holes thru an incandescent light bulb, would the
spectrum of light differ from that generated by normal electron currents?
Question for the electronic buffs out there: Can you design an amplifier
that will amplify holes preferentially over electrons? That is, can you
design a device that will collect and concentrate electron holes? I
would like to build such a device, so please specify available components,
if possible.

Consider: I have heard a lot about positrons, especially in particle
physics. I do not recall ever having heard anything about positron holes.
I predict that a positron hole would annihilate an electron hole (with
energy release of 2*m*c^2, would exchange places with a positron, and
would NOT interact with an electron. By Dirac theory, electrons and
positron holes are distincly different particles. If we assume that
a positron hole needs an anti-proton particle nearby to provide the
charge, then we should expect to find a positron hole in the presence
of every unmatched (no positron) anti-proton.
Questions: Does anybody know of any experiments that reveal positron holes? 
Can anyone propose experiments that would create positron holes? Can you
predict how the behaivor of positron holes would differ from that of
electrons? Can you design a detector (theoretical or real) that would
distinguish between positron holes and electrons? Can a positron hole
exist without the (nearby) presence of an anti-proton (or other - charge
provider)? If the presence of a charge provider IS required, then in
order to annihilate an electron hole with a positron hole, the charge
carriers (the proton and anti-proton) would have to meet. In that case
the energy release would involve the 2* (mass of proton) instead of
2* (mass of electron). How can you resolve that discrepancy? Is the
mass of a hole variable? (ie, normally zero, sometimes the mass of
an electron, and sometimes the mass of a proton?).

Consider: The above questions reveal a large lack of knowledge.
This lack is even more apparent if we think about protons. We are already
familiar with anti-protons (there's a good article about them in the last
issue of Scientific American). But what about proton holes and anti-proton
holes? Think about it. If a proton hole  was present inside a nucleus (of
He or greater), then it could continually trade places with the other protons,
but would not be able to get out of the nucleus without some kind of decay.
Also, it would be charged the same as an electron, so that the nucleus
would behave chemically like the element 2 numbers less. This is
exceedingly weird. It gets even weirder if you consider He. It would be
a (stable?) nucleus of mass 3 and charge 0 (am I confused here? would the
mass be 4? or 2?). Or how about isolated proton holes: would they flow as
current down a conductor??? What material(s) would make good proton hole
conductors? Similar to a positron hole IS NOT an electron, an anti-proton
hole IS NOT a proton. But how could we distinguish protons from anti-proton
holes? Are proton holes virtual particles that require the presence of
a charge provider (such as an electron?)

I could easily go on, and wildly speculate about the possibilities of
neutron holes (like, does a  neutron hole exist inside He3, because
it should be He4?), neutrino holes (like, can a neutral particle hole
even exist, since it doesn't require a real particle to be a charge
provider?), etc. But how about some answers first?

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 ET   "A Force of Nature"
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Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories