Evening star., 1939-07-31
Physicists in Belgium
Probe New Family
OF Creation S Bricks
lsomers, Strange Kind
Of Elements, Moy Produce
New Forms of Motter
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star STAFF CnrreSpnndent.


LOUVAIN, Belgium By Yankee
Clipper An entirely new family
of building blocks of creation is be-
ing investigated by physicists of
Louvain University's Institut de
Physique.
These are the "isomers" of the
elements, described as atoms identi-
cal in weight and in electrical
charge to those of the 90 accepted
elementary forms of matter, but
differing profoundly in their inter-
nal structure, so as to constitute diff
ferent kinds of cosmic bricks used in
the structure of nature. At present
only IA of these have been identi-
fed, according to DR.. j. B. R. Ra-
jam, Hindoo Jesuit, who has been
conducting some Of the Louvain ex-
periments. Through the very ma
ture Of the particles, he explains,
some Of them may forever escape
detection-at least, with any phys
ical methods now available, al
though he brings forward theoretical
evidence of their existence.
Three types of building blocks
now are generally recognized, DR..
Rajam explains. First are the or
dinary forms of the 80 elements
themselves, starting with hydrogen
as the mother substance of creation
and ending with uranium, the heav-
lest of all Second are the isotopes-
atoms with exactly the same elec-
trical charges and configurations OF
electrons as these elements, but with
slightly different weights. Prac-
tically unrecogniZed few years ago
during the past decade 240 of these
have been found in nature-the
most notable of which are heavy
hydrogen, heavy nitrogen, light and
heavy carbon and light uranium.
290 Artificial IsOtopes.
In addition physicists have created
In the laboratories to date 29O artl-
fetal isotopes, by bombarding atoms
with neutrons, protons and atomic
nuclei by means of various types of
atom smashing machines. Although
they are essentially different ele-
ments, the isotopes have Identical
chemical reactions in all COM
pounds as the better known forms.
Because of this they have proved of
revolutionary importance in chem
istry and biology.
The third recognized form, DR.,
Rajam explains, is the 'isobar.' 1t
has exactly the same weight as one
of the elements but differs in its
electrical charge, so that it has a
different chemical reaction. Thus
far only A are known. The exist
ence of 10 others is suspected but
cannot be demonstrated with GER
tainty. Eventually they may prove
of as great significance as have iso-
topes, but thus far no use has been
made of them
The fourth form, the isomer, is
extremely paradoxical, he explains.
Specifically it is precisely the same
as an atom of one of the elements
The difference exists only in the in
ternal structure of the atomic nu-
cleus. The possibility of investigat-
ing this has come only with the
enormous number of radioactive
isotopes produced within the last
two years in laboratories all over
the earth. Every one of the COM
moner elements has been made
radioactive by bombardment. emit
ting protons at terrific energies as
means Of undergoing transmutation
into another element.
Possibilities Predetermined.
The period one of these isotopes
can exist before undergoing this
transmutation varies from few
Ilousandths of a second to a few
days. When the number of natural
tsotopes of an element are known
1t is possible to calculate exactly
what takes place in the transmuta-
ton process. The physicist is able
to determine beforehand just what
possibilities of radio-activity exist
as the result of a hit"
Curiously enough, some of these
artificial forms of matter show sew
eral periods" of radioactive ex-
plosion, some of which do not fall
within the theoretical possibilities
of the isotopes known to be present
In the original material. The only
possible difference thus becomes one
of the internal structure of the
heavy atomic nucleus. DR.. Rajam
conducted his experiments with the
rare element rhodium and has OBJ
tanned a great accumulation of evil
dence of the existence of at least
one of the mysterious isomers.
But the Louvain experiments also
give strong evidence, he points out,
that these isomers also exist in the
absence of radio-activity, the only
possible avenue as yet known for
studying the behavior of the nu-
cleus. 1t is entirely possible, he
says, that single element may con-
tain three or more isomers in
addition to its isotopes and isobars,
thus enormously increasing the
number of elementary building
blocks which eventually will be
available to physicists and chemists
In building new forms of matter.