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 Seeing an Electron
                                 Milo Wolff

                              Technotran Press
                1124 Third Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
                         mwolff@beachnet.gen.ca.us

I want to show you a very interesting web animation of an electron.
But first let me explain something about the structure of the
electron. Then when you are finished reading, observe the animation
below. 

What is an electron?  Never in history has anyone been able to even
imagine the structure of an electron. Until very recently, the
electron was thought to be a 'point' made of an unknown, undefineable
substance called 'charge'. Since a point has no
dimensions, there is no structure and nothing to see. 

The electron is a wave structure. Recently this structure was found
(see: A Wave Structure for the Electron) to be two concentric
spherical moving quantum waves.
One wave moves inward and one wave moves outward. This spherical wave
pair has the familiar properties of an electron which we call mass and
charge, as well as all other properties. When you look  below, for
this first time in history you can see the radial amplitude of these
electron waves moving on your  screen. You will see three diagrams. 

These diagrams are mathematical plots of the IN and OUT waves and the
SUM of
both waves. The plots are the 
amplitudes of the waves drawn along a radius out from the electron
center (at the
left side). (Be patient  -  the mathematical program doesn't start
instantly).  You will
see that the farther from the center, the smaller the amplitudes
become. This is like
familiar sound or light waves or even water waves which become weaker
as they
move outward. Quantum waves are very tiny. In this diagram they are
amplified a
hundred, million, million times (1014).  You have to imagine them
smaller  - but that
is not difficult. 

                                                   

In the TOP DIAGRAM,  observe the wave moving OUTward. On the left,
where
the radius is zero, the amplitude becomes + infinite (runs to the top
of the screen). 

In the MIDDLE DIAGRAM, observe the wave moving INward. Where the
radius
is zero the amplitude is - infinite (runs to the bottom of the
screen). 

The blue BOTTOM DIAGRAM is the SUM of the two waves.  That is, the two
amplitudes are added together, as always happens when two waves are at
the same
place. The sum of the waves is the radial amplitude of the real
electron.  Watch
carefully how the sum wave moves. The wave does not move inward or
outward,
it goes up and down. That is, it becomes a standing wave. Standing
waves also
occur for light and sound waves; for example on a violin string. The
waves on the
string can go up and down but not run along the string because of the
posts. The
electron, and other charged particles, are structured of standing
spherical quantum
waves. 

Notice the behavior of the sum wave when the radius is near zero.  The
amplitude
of the  wave is not  infinite at zero radius. Instead you notice it
reaches a size of
about + or - one inch on the screen. This is an important difference
between the
wave structure theory compared to the old point theory of the
electron. In the point
theory, electric amplitudes became infinite at zero radius. This is
wrong because
laboratory measurements show finite amplitudes. The wave structure, as
shown
here, gives the right result. 

Where are the orbits?  For many (too many) years people imagined atoms
as
point electrons orbiting around a nucleus. This myth, obviously
imitating our
planetary system, was shown wrong by quantum theory more than sixty
years ago.
For example in the hydrogen atom, quantum theory predicts the electron
presence
as a symmetrical spherical cloud around the proton.  Some physicists
concluded
that the point bits of matter were still there, even though quantum
theory contains
no notion of point particles. The old myth dies hard! 
      Actually, in the H atom both the electron wave-structure and the
proton have
the same center. The electron's structure can be imagined like an
onion  -  spherical
layers of waves around a center. The amplitude of the waves decreases
like the
blue standing wave in the bottom diagram. There are no point masses  -
no orbits,
just waves. 

 Animated Particles. This diagram is the first  animation of a basic
particle for
viewers on the web. Is this Important? Or just a neat gimmick to make
fuzzy
physics come to life?  Yes! It illustrates a newly recognized
essential property of a
particle - communication. In order for particles to interact with each
other, it is
essential they communicate their position, direction, and presence to
each other.
The dynamic wave-structured electron can do this. The old static point
particle
cannot. It is wrong. Understanding properties of the particles by
animation will have
a high priority in the future. 

This animation was produced by my son Winston. You can see that his
work
making Star Wars video games like "Dark Forces" of recent best-seller
fame,  has
scientific application. Thus I am  doubly proud that he was able to
program it and
put it on this web page. It required a lot of planning and skill.  I
am very grateful for
his innovative help in making this science page for you. 

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