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3.5.2 Neutrino

The existence of an electrically neutral particle, having negligible mass but with intrinsic angular momentum related to Planck's constant, was suggested in 1930 by physicist, Wolfgang Pauli. In his studies of the nuclear disintegration process known as beta-decay, he found that the sum of energy and intrinsic angular momentum of the debris from this decay did not add up to the amounts lost from the nucleus. His proposal was that a particle, later called the 'neutrino' was necessary to ensure conservation of intrinsic angular momentum.

His proposal was accepted even though the detection of such a particle seemed impossible given its very small, or even zero, mass. When, in 1932, Chadwick discovered the much larger neutral particle, the neutron, the neutrino was seen to be part of a more complicated beta-decay process. The beta particle (electron) did not exist separately within the nucleus, but rather as part of neutron structure, which would then decay into a proton and an electron, plus a neutrino which carried away the excess angular momentum.

Neutrinos are said to stream away from the Sun where they originate as a by-product of the nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms to form helium. For a neutrino to 'stream away' from the Sun would suggest that the its mass is negative, or at least zero, otherwise the Sun's powerful gravity would pull them in the opposite direction. Zero energy density within the neutrino would make it appear to have negative mass relative to the background of positive energy density in the continuum. Neutrinos streaming away from the Sun is analogous to the way bubbles in soda water rise against the force of gravity as they are displaced upwards by water moving downwards.

Similarly, zero angular momentum density within the neutrino would appear as negative angular momentum relative to the background of positive angular momentum density in the continuum. It might seem that this background energy and angular momentum would 'back-fill' the empty sphere of the neutrino, however, given that the angular momentum density is constant at each point in the continuum, it cannot 'stretch' to fill empty spaces. Thus, the volume of the local continuum is independent of changes in its shape. However, it is these changes in shape of the local continuum that cause the increased energy of the particle.

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