Wave Mechanics without Waves: A New Classical Model for Nuclear Reactions
Roger A. Rydin
Keywords: waves
A comparison is made between the conventional way nuclear reactions were considered to take place circa 1960, and how they might take place using a new Classical electromagnetic model of the nucleus proposed by Charles Lucas. The old analysis used an analytic model of a compound nucleus and the linear Schr?dinger wave equation to predict reaction cross sections by treating the wave solutions as quantum mechanical probabilities. Actual experimental data had to be inserted into the equation to get the response for each case.
The new model considers the perturbed nucleus in terms of mechanical vibrations that lead to unstable states that foster decay to restore stability. The form of the resulting balance equation is similar to the Schr?dinger wave equation, so the mechanical model has the potential to produce similar results without using waves.
