One-Electron Universe

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One-electron universe

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Postulate in particle physics

The one-electron universe is the hypothesis that all electrons and positrons are actually manifestations of a single entity moving backwards and forwards in time. It was proposed by theoretical physicist John Wheeler in a telephone call to Richard Feynman in the spring of 1940.
A similar "zigzag world line description of pair annihilation" was independently devised by E. C. G. Stueckelberg at the same time.[1]
Overview
The idea is based on the world lines traced out across spacetime by every electron. Rather than have myriad such lines, Wheeler suggested that they could all be parts of one single line like a huge tangled knot, traced out by the one electron. Any given moment in time is represented by a slice across spacetime, and would meet the knotted line a great many times. Each such meeting point represents a real electron at that moment.
At those points, half the lines will be directed forward in time and half will have looped round and be directed backwards. Wheeler suggested that these backwards sections appeared as the antiparticle to the electron, the positron.
Many more electrons have been observed than positrons, and electrons are thought to comfortably outnumber them. According to Feynman he raised this issue with Wheeler, who speculated that the missing positrons might be hidden within protons.[2]
Feynman was struck by Wheeler's insight that antiparticles could be represented by reversed world lines, and credits this to Wheeler, saying in his Nobel speech:
I received a telephone call one day at the graduate college at Princeton from Professor Wheeler, in which he said, "Feynman, I know why all electrons have the same charge and the same mass" "Why?" "Because, they are all the same electron!" (...) I did not take the idea that all the electrons were the same one from [Wheeler] as seriously as I took the observation that positrons could simply be represented as electrons going from the future to the past in a back section of their world lines. That, I stole![2]
Feynman later proposed this interpretation of the positron as an electron moving backward in time in his 1949 paper "The Theory of Positrons".[3] Yoichiro Nambu later applied it to all production and annihilation of particle–antiparticle pairs, stating that "the eventual creation and annihilation of pairs that may occur now and then, is no creation nor annihilation, but only a change of directions of moving particles, from past to future, or from future to past."[4]
See also
Eddington number
Identical particles
Retrocausality
T-symmetry
References

↑ Silvan S. Schweber, QED and the Men Who Made It, p. 388, Princeton University Press, 1994, ISBN 0691033277.
1 2 Richard Feynman (11 December 1965). "Nobel Lecture". Nobel Foundation.
↑ Feynman, Richard (1949). "The Theory of Positrons" (PDF). Physical Review. 76 (6): 749–759. Bibcode:1949PhRv...76..749F. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.76.749. S2CID 120117564.
↑ Nambu, Yoichiro (1950). "The Use of the Proper Time in Quantum Electrodynamics I". Progress of Theoretical Physics. 5 (1): 82–94. Bibcode:1950PThPh...5...82N. doi:10.1143/PTP/5.1.82.

External links
O'Dowd, Matt (August 10, 2017). "The One-Electron Universe". PBS Space Time. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
vteRichard FeynmanCareer
Feynman diagram
Feynman–Kac formula
Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory
Bethe–Feynman formula
Hellmann–Feynman theorem
Feynman slash notation
Feynman parametrization
Path integral formulation
Parton model
Sticky bead argument
One-electron universe
Quantum cellular automaton
Rogers Commission Report
Feynman checkerboard
Feynman sprinkler
Works
"There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" (1959)
The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1964)
The Character of Physical Law (1965)
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985)
What Do You Care What Other People Think? (1988)
Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun (1997)
The Meaning of It All (1999)
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1999)
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005)
Family
Joan Feynman (sister)
Charles Hirshberg (nephew)
Related
Namesakes
One-loop Feynman diagram
Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science
Tuva or Bust!
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology
Infinity (1996 film)
QED (2001 play)}}
The Challenger Disaster (2013 film)

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One-electron universe

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The one-electron universe is a hypothesis in particle physics proposing that both electrons and positrons are fundamentally manifestations of a single entity that moves throughout time, either forward or backward. This concept originated from the work of theoretical physicist John Wheeler, who proposed it during a telephone call to Richard Feynman in the spring of 1940. A similar conceptual framework, described as a "zigzag world line description of pair annihilation," was independently developed by E. C. G. Stueckelberg around the same time.

The foundation of this idea rests on analyzing the world lines traced across spacetime by every electron. Rather than considering numerous individual lines, Wheeler suggested that these lines could be conceptualized as a single, highly complex entity, analogous to a tangled knot, representing the one electron. Any specific moment in time is represented by a cross-section of spacetime, and this slice intersects the knotted line multiple times, with each intersection point signifying the location of a real electron at that instant. Wheeler postulated that at these intersection points, half of the world lines would be directed forward in time, while the other half would have looped and been directed backward in time. Wheeler hypothesized that these backward sections corresponded to the antiparticle of the electron, the positron.

Feynman was deeply influenced by Wheeler's insight, particularly the idea that antiparticles could be represented by reversed world lines. Feynman later attributed this concept to Wheeler, noting that the observation that positrons could be viewed as electrons traveling from the future to the past in a backward section of their world lines was a key contribution derived from Wheeler. In his 1949 paper, "The Theory of Positrons," Feynman formally proposed this interpretation of the positron as an electron moving backward in time.

Yoichiro Nambu subsequently extended this view to the processes of particle-antiparticle creation and annihilation. Nambu suggested that the eventual creation or annihilation of particle-antiparticle pairs should not be viewed as a true creation or annihilation event, but rather as a transformation in the direction of the moving particles, moving from the past to the future or from the future to the past. This perspective highlights the connection between the temporal nature of particles and the dynamics of their interactions within spacetime.