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H-Rays and a Giant Atom Primer


Posts will be a bit terse and scattered for the next few days.  Today I was looking into Hirsch's answer to the question "How'd you get all that excess charge got up onto the surface of that superconductor anyways Hoss?", (appropriate nod to Ray Stevens and Shriners everywhere here).  Super, super, super attentive readers might remember that the upcoming h-rays experiment[7] will be looking for Bremsstrahlung radiation produced by this theoretical excess surface charge density when the superconductor quenches.


What I found through the referenced series of Hirsch  articles[1][2][3][4] relates to the effective mass of electrons I spoke about yesterday[6].  Hirsch makes the inference that since the mass of the electrons measured within superconductors corresponds exactly to the rest mass of the electron, then they must not be interacting with either the lattice ions of the superconductor, or the other electrons in the superconductor.  Hence, he coins the phrase 'superconductors as giant atoms'.  In other words, he theorizes that there is a certain density of electrons that orbit a continuous positive charge density contained in the interior of the superconductor, (picture 2)[2].  In case your skeptical about the claim, and there's no reason you shouldn't be, it's only a theory, Hirsch goes on to cite the experiment referenced in [5] where a drastic drop in the coefficient of sliding friction between solid liquid  nitrogen lead in a liquid helium bath was measured when the lead entered the superconducting state.  Why?  Hirsch theorizes it was due in part at least to the extra layer of free electrons sitting on the surface of the lead superconductor after the state change.

Notes on Individual Journal Aticles
[1]
In this article, the hole theory is outlined as well as the resulting expulsion of the negatively charged condensate.  Holes in the outer shells of atoms within the superconductor pair to form the superconducting charge carriers.  When they pair, their effective mass is lowered.  This effective mass lowering reduces their kinetic energy, and it is this reduction in kinetic energy that is utilized to create the superconducting condensate.

As a result of all this, positively charged quasiparticles co-exist with the superconducting condensate.  It's not entirely clear to me yet where these quasipartcles cam from.  However, in the theory, they are effectively more massive and less mobile than the condensate, so the superconducting condensate travels outwards towards the surface of the superconductor.  It is this outward motion that accounts for the migration of excess charge to the surface.


References:
1.  This appears to be the first reference to the giant atom near the end of the article.  This is also where the triboelectric reference is made
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0375-9601%2801%2900101-3
Hirsch J.E. (2001). Consequences of charge imbalance in superconductors within the theory of hole superconductivity, Physics Letters A, 281 (1) 44-47. DOI:
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0012517

2.  Next mention also in Physics Letters A.  This one expands on the subject that was mentioned in [1]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0375-9601%2803%2900204-4
Hirsch J.E. (2003). Superconductors as giant atoms predicted by the theory of hole superconductivity, Physics Letters A, 309 (5-6) 457-464. DOI:
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0301611

3. Third mention slightly later in the same year, 2003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevB.68.184502
Hirsch J. (2003). Charge expulsion and electric field in superconductors, Physical Review B, 68 (18) DOI:
arXiv:  http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0308604

4.  And again in 2005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevB.71.104522
Hirsch J. (2005). Why holes are not like electrons. II. The role of the electron-ion interaction, Physical Review B, 71 (10) DOI:
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0504013

5.  Superconductors and surface friction
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.80.1690
Dayo A., Alnasrallah W. & Krim J. (1998). Superconductivity-Dependent Sliding Friction, Physical Review Letters, 80 (8) 1690-1693. DOI:

6.  LENR and Effective Electron Mass
http://copaseticflow.blogspot.com/2013/04/lenr-and-electron-effective-mass.html

7.  H-ray experiment proposal
http://copaseticflow.blogspot.com/2013/03/open-science-is-cool-in-concept-but.html

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