https://www.iflscience.com/the-strange-theory-that-there-is-only-one-electron-in-the-universe-73818 CLOSE Thank you! We have emailed you a PDF version of the article you requested. Can't find the email? Please check your spam or junk folder You can also addnewsletters@iflscience.comto your safe senders list to ensure you never miss a message from us. CLOSE IFLScience Home IFLScience logo The Strange Theory That There Is Only One Electron In The Universe Complete the form below and we will email you a PDF version --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73818Email[ ]Country [Please Choose ]Ready to spark your curiosity? Get our newsletter full of awesome, inspiring, and strange science.You can unsubscribe at any time. View ourprivacy policy and terms below.[Please Choose] GET PDF Cancel and go back IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out our Privacy Policy CLOSE IFLScience Home IFLScience logo The Strange Theory That There Is Only One Electron In The Universe Complete the form below to listen to the audio version of this article --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73818Email[ ]Country [Please Choose ]Ready to spark your curiosity? Get our newsletter full of awesome, inspiring, and strange science.You can unsubscribe at any time. View ourprivacy policy and terms below.[Please Choose] audio Listen Cancel and go back IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out our Privacy Policy Advertisement IFLScience Home IFLScience logo * trendingTrending * bookMost Read * Latest * Humans * Health & Medicine * Nature * Space & Physics * Technology * Curious Magazine * Multimedia + Videos + Podcasts + eBooks * News * Features * Opinion * Learn with IFLS * Company * Advertise With Us The IFLScience Home IFLScience logoNewsletter Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox Subscribe Today (c) 2024 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved IFLScience Home IFLScience logo * trendingTrending * bookMost Read The IFLScience Home IFLScience logoNewsletter Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox Subscribe Today (c) 2024 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved More * Latest * News * Features * Opinion * Curious Magazine * Learn with IFLS * Company IFLScience Home IFLScience logo search * Latest * Trending * Humans * Health & Medicine * Nature * Space & Physics * Technology * Multimedia + Videos + Podcasts + eBooks Newsletters in your inbox! Subscribe Subscribe today for our Weekly Newsletter in your inbox! Subscribe Today spaceSpace and Physicsspacephysics clockPUBLISHED The Strange Theory That There Is Only One Electron In The Universe Electrons are everywhere. But what if it's the same one? James Felton James Felton James Felton James Felton Senior Staff Writer * * James is a published author with four pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary. View full profile --------------------------------------------------------------------- Read IFLScience Editorial Policy Senior Staff Writer * * EditedbyFrancesca Benson author Francesca Benson Copy Editor and Staff Writer * * Francesca Benson is a Copy Editor and Staff Writer with a MSci in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham. View full profile --------------------------------------------------------------------- Read IFLScience Editorial Policy DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION comments27Comments share1.2kShares A model of an atom containing multiple electrons. While fun, don't bank on this idea being correct. Image credit: vchal/Shutterstock.com DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION It's estimated that there are around 10^82 atoms in the observable universe. With each element in the periodic table containing at least one electron, you can therefore safely assume there are at least 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 electrons in the observable universe as well. Or can you? According to a theory proposed by theoretical physicist John Wheeler, who outlined his thoughts in a conversation with fellow physicist Richard Feynman, there is only one electron - it just looks like there are a lot more because it is moving forward and backward in time. Advertisement As odd as this sounds, it is itself a response to the incredible weirdness of electrons. Electrons, like other elementary particles, are indistinguishable from each other. They have the same negative charge, the same mass, and the same spin. Swap one electron for another, and you won't be able to tell. Its antiparticle - the positron - are also indistinguishable from each other, identical in their charge, mass, and spin. Strangely, they are identical to electrons, aside from their positive charge. It was these factors that led Wheeler to suggest that electrons and positrons were actually just one particle, negatively charged as it goes forward in time, and positively charged as it goes backward in time. "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'," Feynman said in his 1965 Nobel Lecture. Advertisement "'Because, they are all the same electron!' And, then he explained on the telephone, 'suppose that the world lines which we were ordinarily considering before in time and space - instead of only going up in time were a tremendous knot, and then, when we cut through the knot, by the plane corresponding to a fixed time, we would see many, many world lines and that would represent many electrons, except for one thing. If in one section this is an ordinary electron world line, in the section in which it reversed itself and is coming back from the future we have the wrong sign to the proper time - to the proper four velocities - and that's equivalent to changing the sign of the charge, and, therefore, that part of a path would act like a positron'." That would make for an old particle, having bounced back and forth through time a truly incomprehensible number of times. While this would be a fun way to explain why electrons and positrons share properties, it is incredibly unlikely to be correct. As Feynman points out, there are not nearly as many positrons as electrons in the universe, and there is more matter than antimatter. If positrons and electrons were the same elementary particle going forward and backward in time, you'd expect there to be an even number. "Well, maybe [the missing positrons] are hidden in the protons or something," was the explanation that Wheeler offered, pretty unconvincingly. Though a thought experiment, and likely not supposed to be taken seriously, the phone call had a lasting impact on Feynman, writing a paper on how positrons can be described as if they are electrons moving backward in time. "I did not take the idea that all the electrons were the same one from him 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," he added. "That, I stole!" DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTICLE POSTED IN spaceSpace and Physicsspacephysics * tag * electrons, * time travel, * antimatter, * Richard Feynman, * physics, * positrons, * weird and wonderful commentsDiscuss (27 CommentS)FOLLOW ONNEWSGoogele News space More Space and Physics Stories Nearby Supernova Was Surprisingly Lacking In Cosmic Rays, Throwing Doubts On TheoriesThe Pinwheel Galaxy with the supernova SN 2023ixf in the spiral arm circled spaceAstronomy Nearby Supernova Was Surprisingly Lacking In Cosmic Rays, Throwing Doubts On Theories clock6 hours ago share14 Scientists Searching For Extraterrestrial Life Have First "Contact Call" - With A WhaleA humpback whale underwater. spaceSpace and Physics Scientists Searching For Extraterrestrial Life Have First "Contact Call" - With A Whale clock12 hours ago share200 Milky Way's Newly Record-Breaking Stellar Black Hole Has The Mass Of 33 SunsThe movement of J19391872+1455542 requires an object at the center of its orbit that is the galaxy's largest known black hole other than the one at its heart. spaceAstronomy Milky Way's Newly Record-Breaking Stellar Black Hole Has The Mass Of 33 Suns clock13 hours ago share190 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement video Multimedia Does The Word "Avocado" Have A Double Meaning?Avocado and guacamole on a platter. video Does The Word "Avocado" Have A Double Meaning? Is Orange Cat Behavior A Real Thing?An orange cat yawning on a bed video Is Orange Cat Behavior A Real Thing? Ligers V Tigons: What's The Difference?A liger and tigon video Ligers V Tigons: What's The Difference? More Multimediamore IFLScience Home IFLScience logo The IFLScience Home IFLScience logoNewsletter Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox Subscribe Today Navigation * Home * Team * About * Careers * Subscribe Contact * Submit News * Contact * Report Website Issues * Advertise With Us * Write For Us Editorial * Editorial Mission * Fact-Checking Policy * Correction Policy * Transparency Policy * Comment Policy Legal * Terms of use * Privacy Policy * Cookie Policy * Change Cookie Settings * Advertising Policy © 2024 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved. RSS