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Unresolved Conundrums

Now I focus on the evidence that currently confounds the accepted theories of physics. With respect to theoretical principles, I have covered some conceptual challenges, particularly for quantum physics, previously. Here I focus on observations that currently cannot be explained.

I should expound on the last statement: theorists will claim that any one of these observations supports one or another formulation of particle theory. However, in every case the theories predict additional phenomena that have yet to be revealed. One of the tributes to the ingenuity of particle physicists as a whole is the facility with which they qualify their theories in order to accommodate confounding evidence. Given this cleverness, I stand on principle that no theory should be taken as irrefutably proven by experiment until all of its axioms have been demonstrated through experiment.

  • Solar neutrino flux. Based upon our current understanding of fusion reaction rates, it appears that only 70% of the neutrinos emitted by the sun make it here to earth.

  • Origins of particle mass. The twelve fermions appear to have masses without any rational relationship. (I include the neutrinos because mass-mixing is the preferred explanation for the solar neutrino deficit.) In fact, the masses would appear to satisfy most standards for randomness. The standard model proposes a mechanism for generation of fermion masses (the Higgs boson), but this theory has neither explanatory nor predictive power. It contains enough parameters - and them some - to fit all of the known data.

  • Galactic velocity profiles. Looking at spectra for elliptical galaxies visible in profile from the Earth, we can get an impression of the speed of stars versus radial distance from the center of the galaxy. It appears that the stars at the periphery are moving rapidly enough that they should be moving away from the center. In the big bang theory, galaxies are formed in an inward spiraling of matter to a central point.

  • Active galactic nuclei. Many galaxies appear to have an extremely massive object at their core. Detailed analysis of the intensity of radiation emitted from the AGN at the Milky Way's core appears to support the contention that it is an extremely large black hole. Calculations show that these objects have masses from many millions of stellar masses, all the way up to many billions. The formation of these objects is not easily reconciled with the bubbles in the Deep Field distribution.

  • Deep Field Distribution. Under the assumption that galaxies have been losing speed since the Expansive Cool, we can presume that more heavily red-shifted light comes from more distant galaxies. Using this insight, we can plot the depth distribution of galaxies in every direction of the sky. These polar plots indicate that the observable matter lies on the surface of enormously large empty voids.

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Material Copyright © 2005 Brian Balke