Title : On the possibility of experimental determination of the mass of photons
Abstract:
The work relates to the basics of quantum physics and photonics, in particular to the formation of photons in two states: elementary particles and their electromagnetic radiation. The study of these problems is an urgent and important task that has not been fully resolved for their energy and mass indicators. Solving the problem of experimentally determining the mass of a photon on the basis of reliable physical laws and regularities and developing a method and device for its measurement is the main goal of the work being performed.
Work results. At present, it is generally accepted that a photon has zero mass, since its presence contradicts the principles of relativism, in which, when the speed of light is reached, an object shrinks to 0 and its mass tends to infinity. However, the principles of relativism can be questioned, since in the work Initial Quanta Level of the Material World and Substantiation of Its Parameters, DOI: 10.9734/bpi/mono/978-81-19491-00-1, it is substantiated that Nothing in the Universe can be compressed to a size smaller than the Planck length lP = (hG/c3)0,5 = 4.05·10-35 m, which is justified by a strict physical dependence obtained on the basis of the fundamental physical constants c, h, G.Therefore, a contradiction arises between the principles of relativism, which have not been fully verified in the zone of velocities close to the speed of light c, and repeatedly verified physical constants c, h, G. In this case, the hypothesis of a non-zero photon mass has the right to exist, and the rest mass of the photon m = h/(Tc2), where T is the oscillation period of its waves, is the relativistic mass of the photon. However, only reliable experimental studies can serve as a criterion for its verification.The main goal of this work is to develop a method and device for determining the mass of a photon.It is based on the experiments of Professor Lebedev on measuring the pressure of light. If a similar device with a pair of balanced measuring petals is placed horizontally, one of them is covered with a screen, and the other is irradiated with laser light from above and below to balance the pressure, then photons can accumulate on this petal. After some time they will change the equilibrium of the pair if the accumulated photons have mass.Preliminary calculations show that the energy consumption for the creation of light by a laser, the total mass of photons is 10-8 kg, will be about 1 MW, and the result will be noticeable after 0.5 years of irradiation.
Conclusion. It is proposed to conduct such an experiment by everyone who has such technical and economic capabilities. A complete description of the experiment is available.
