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Volume 12: Pages 649-661, 1999
The Electron as a Four‐Dimensional Helix of Spin‐1/2 Symmetry
Horace R. Drew
125 Charles Street, Putney 2112, New South Wales, Australia
The structure of an electron is discussed here in terms of an object of finite size near 10−13m, which moves internally or “spins” at speed c as a doubly rotating, four‐dimensional helix. While some might object to such a model on principle because they imagine the world to be made of three dimensions of space and a separate dimension of time, it seems as if a four‐dimensional model for the electron, which is continuous through time, can explain many of its properties that otherwisecould not be clearly understood. For example, an electron by this scheme will repel itself electrically by 1/137 of mc2 across the helix through space, or by 1/(137 × 2 π) of mc2 along the helix through time. The first small self‐energy explains why any electron should show a finite probability to emit or absorb light as 1/137. The second small self‐energy explains why any electron should show an anomalous magnetism of 1 + 1/(137 × 2π). Furthermore, due to its symmetry of spin 1/2, a four‐dimensional electron will move internally with twice the radius about its magnetic versus electrical axes, to give twice the magnetism or g = 2. Several other models are also considered in terms of their relative degree of agreement with experiment. Lastly, the general plausibility of finite models for the electron is discussed in terms of an “intrinsic” rather than a “light‐signal” view of special relativity.
Keywords: electron structure, four‐dimensional helix, counting time by spin, intrinsic versus light‐signal relativity, finite electrical self‐repulsions, spin‐1/2 symmetry, problems with Lorentz covariance
Received: February 27, 1998; Published online: December 15, 2008
