mharratsc wrote:@ Sparky - I'll echo that question, and add to it: How does 'spin' fit into all that, and how do particles keep their spin when they are all bouncing around together? Is none of it lost in the process?
The "spin" phenomenon is covered in detail on the
THE ELECTRON section, and in many other places within the framework-
An excerpt:
THE ELECTRON SPIN
One wave. Two particles. Four phases.
Standing waves exhibit nodes where the medium pressure remains constant, and antinodes where negative and positive energy alternate. They produce regularly spaced nodes and antinodes whose distance is a half-wavelength, but in the meantime the medium pressure is the same everywhere and the system seems to disappear.
The point is that such antinodes appear twice per period. This means that while a standing wave system is producing a positive antinode at a given x coordinate, another perfectly synchronized system placed crosswise can rather produce a negative antinode there. Both systems being identical, their pulsating period is not for an observer placed there.
So this is a relative point of view. All electrons are perfectly identical, but their unique central antinode is a privileged one. The amplitude there can be positive while it is negative inside another one, although all antinodes will be present simultaneously.
This means that while one core is positive, another one can be negative. In other words, its phase is pi shifted with respect to the other one. In the meantime, all other antinodes are present, but their position is lambda / 2 shifted. Finally, two sorts of electron are possible. The electron spin does not refer to a mechanical rotation. It is the consequence of a phase rotation, and in order to achieve this all electrons must be perfectly synchronized.
In addition, two times per period, such synchronized standing waves seem to disappear because the medium pressure is uniform everywhere. This is called quadrature, which can be either pi / 2 or 3 pi / 2. This indicates that there is some place for two other particles, two sorts of positrons, whose antinodes also appear simultaneously.
Assuming that electrons can synchronize themselves mutually, all positrons in the vicinity will less or more rapidly transform their phase and become electrons. The atomic structure makes it so that electrons are always nearer one from another, while positrons are also grouped. Moreover, the proton structure supposes that its three quarks should produce a pi / 2 phase shift in its center, making a hidden positron very stable and comfortable there.
The spin effect.
Two electrons close together behave normally in spite of the spin difference. But up and down spin produce opposite magnetic fields when the electron standing waves are adding to the positron's. A surprising unidirectional radiation appears, whose direction determines the north and south pole. This means that one hydrogen atom alone is certainly magnetic. It is a dipole, and the sun's surface clearly proves this. However, the hydrogen molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms. Because it is not magnetic, it should contain two electrons whose spin is +1/2 and –1/2.
For the same reason, any atom should contain an equal number of spins, which should be placed on opposite sides. Otherwise, the resulting atom shows a residual polarity which modifies its chemical properties. This is partially the cause of Pauli's Exclusion Principle.
The electron spin (up and down, or +1/2 and –1/2) is the consequence of a phase rotation. It can be either –pi/2, pi/2, 3pi/2, etc. The positron's quadrature is rather 0 pi, pi, 2 pi, etc. The word spin indicates a mechanical rotation, but this would suggest an axis which was never demonstrated. Moreover, such a real spin is unlikely to be possible because the electron is so small that it can be seen as a point.
So the spin is the wave period. Here is a diagram showing this:
Two sorts of spin for the electron and two more for the positron.
You'll find that many of the questions that arise about the how's and why's of this work are discussed.
One simply has to read the whole of the theory.
