Evening star., 1954-06-23
Science Fiction Theme
Possible but Unlikely
Few Ounces Of Negotrons
Cunnot Be CorruIIed

by IhomoS K. heny
Just over the horizon is the mega
tron."
A few ounces Of negatrons and
poof. There goes the earth in O
fraction Of a second.
This probably will be a good theme
for writer's Of science fiction and 1t Is
perfectly true-but there never will be,
or can be, few ounces Of negatrons.
A few years ago there were rumorS
that Russians had corralled q few
unqueStionably false because negatronS
can't be corralled.
But with the new types of atom
SmaShers producing fundamental parti-
cles of matter with energies Of billions
of electron volts. such as the coSmotron
at the Brookhaven laboratories Of the
Atomic Energy Commission or the as
billion-volt proton synchrotron now
planned near Geneva by q group Of
IL Western European countries, it iS
highly probable that a few Of the
malevolent particles will be produced
in the next few years.
There Is a somewhat doubtful report
that one already has appeared at the
University Of Chicago.
Explained by DR.. Bethe.
This was revealed at meetings Of the
National Academy of Sciences here by
DR.. H. A. Bethe of Cornell University,
one Of the worlds most distinguished
atomic scientists.
The negatron is q negatively charged
proton. Protons, which constitute the
bulk Of the nuclei of all atoms and
hence the bulk of all matter on earth,
are the positively charged elementary
particles, about 1000 times the mass
Of the negatively charged electrons al.
though much smaller in volume. If a
negatively charged particle of the same
size came within close proximity to a
proton the two would Immediately
eliminate each other, with a cor
responding release of energy according
to the EinStein equation of the equiva-
lence Of mass and energy.
This equation is the basis of the
atomic bomb. A very minute part of
the mass of the bomb is changed into
energy. With negatron- -proton associ-
alton there would be a conversion Of
the entire mass.
There is a high probability, DIR.
Bethe said. that the negative proton
is an actuality-simply on the analogy
that the basic particles Of matter come
in pairs. This is the only known ex-
ception.
The extremely high voltage atom
smasher produced particles called
"mesons." They average about 1000
times the mass of an electron. They
may be considered transition states
between matter and energy. They have
lifetimeS determined in millionthS Of
seconds. Then they split up into pro-
tons and electronS, the traditional
forms of matter.
Position Well Known.
Now, according to highly complicated
theoretical calculations, if the mesons-
perhaps more likely a new type Of
particle called the hyperion" which is
twice as heavy as proton-were shot
out with sufficient energy they might
just as well split up into negatronS
and positive electronS or POSITIONS. The
positron is well known. 1t has a very
short lifetime because it is destroyed
by contact with an electron, but the
masses involved are so small there is
no great energy production.
A minimum of about six-billion elec-
tron volt particles of the meSon type
would be necessary before negatrons
could be expected, DR.. Bethe explained.
If the negatron could be kept in
complete vacuum a condition which
cannot be realized on earth, it might
endure forever and supply would be
accumulated. Since the complete vac
uum is impoSSible-and in any event
must be included in walls of some sort
made of positive matter-there appar-
emily is no possibility whatsoever Of
getting such supply. There also is no
possibility of getting a permanent pool
of POSITIONS.
But even if a single negatron and
a single proton ever meet in a vacuum
tube, DR.. Bethe explained, the result
will be something to watch"
Science fiction writer's, however. need
not be disheartened over the apparent
impoSSibility Of some malevolent Scien-
tiSt eliminating his world with mega
irons. There can be no certain asser-
ton that somewhere in the universe
there may not be great concentrations
of negative matter"-the nuclei Of
whose atoms are made up Of negatronS
with POSITIONS taking the place Of elec-
irons For all anybody knows there
may be whole. stellar galaxies. as big
as the Milky Way system. made up Of
such matter.
Galaxies, it is now known, crash to-
gether now and then. Meeting of
positive and negative galaxy might very
well mean the end not only of the two
billion-star aggregations themselves but
of all creation.
It was comforting, however. when DR..
Bethe explained that all the cosmic
radiation bombarding the earth from
outer space is positively charged. There
is no rain of negatrons from the cosmos.
Questions and Answers