York H. Dobyns

Inertial mass and the quantum vacuum fields

Even when the Higgs particle is finally detected, it will continue to be a legitimate question to ask whether the inertia of matter as a reaction force opposing acceleration is an intrinsic or extrinsic property of matter. General relativity specifies which geodesic path a free particle will follow, but geometrodynamics has no mechanism for generating a reaction force for deviation from geodesic motion. We discuss a different approach involving the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF) of the quantum vacuum. It has been found that certain asymmetries arise in the ZPF as perceived from an accelerating reference frame. In such a frame the Poynting vector and momentum flux of the ZPF become non-zero. Scattering of this quantum radiation by the quarks and electrons in matter can result in an acceleration-dependent reaction force. Both the ordinary and the relativistic forms of Newtons second law, the equation of motion, can be derived from the electrodynamics of such ZPF-particle interactions. Conjectural arguments are given why this interaction should take place in a resonance at the Compton frequency, and how this could simultaneously provide a physical basis for the de Broglie wavelength of a moving particle. This affords a suggestive perspective on a deep connection between electrodynamics, the origin of inertia and the quantum wave nature of matter.

Source localization using time difference of arrival within a sparse representation framework

The problem addressed is source localization via time-difference-of-arrival estimation in a multipath channel. Solving this localization problem typically implies cross-correlating the noisy signals received at pairs of sensors deployed within reception range of the source. Correlation-based localization is severely degraded by the presence of multipath. The proposed method exploits the sparsity of the multipath channel for estimation of the line-of-sight component. The time-delay estimation problem is formulated as an ℓ1-regularization problem, where the ℓ1-norm is used as a channel sparsity constraint. The proposed method requires knowledge of the pulse shape of the transmitted signal, but it is blind in the sense that information on the specific transmitted symbols is not required at the sensors. Simulation results show that the proposed method delivers higher accuracy and robustness to noise compared to conventional or even super-resolution MUSIC time-difference-of-arrival source localization methods.

Time difference of arrival based source localization within a sparse representation framework

The problem addressed is source localization from time differences of arrival (TDOA). This problem is also referred to as hyperbolic localization and it is non-convex in general. Traditional solutions proposed in the literature have generally poor robustness to errors in the TDOA estimates. More recent methods, which relax the non-convex problem to a convex optimization by applying a semi-definite relaxation (SDR) method, were found to be more robust to TDOA errors than the traditional methods. However, the SDR methods are not optimal in general. In this paper, three convex optimization methods with different computational costs are proposed to improve the hyperbolic localization accuracy. The first method takes an SDR approach to relax the hyperbolic localization to a convex optimization. The second method follows a linearized formulation of the problem and seeks for a biased estimate of improved accuracy. The first two methods perform comparably when the source is inside the convex hull of the sensors. When the source is located outside, the second approach performs better, at the cost of higher computation. A third method is proposed by exploiting the source sparsity. With this, the hyperbolic localization is formulated as an ℓ1-regularization problem, where the ℓ1-norm is used as source sparsity constraint. Computer simulations show that the ℓ1-regularization can offer further improved accuracy, but at the cost of additional computational effort.

The Case for inertia as a vacuum effect: A Reply to Woodward and Mahood

The possibility of an extrinsic origin for inertial reaction forces has recently seen increased attention in the physical literature. Among theories of extrinsic inertia, the two considered by the current work are (1) the hypothesis that inertia is a result of gravitational interactions and (2) the hypothesis that inertial reaction forces arise from the interaction of material particles with local fluctuations of the quantum vacuum. A recent article supporting the former and criticizing the latter is shown to contain substantial errors.

Retrocausal Information Flow: What are the Consequences of Knowing the Future?

This paper discusses experimental findings from the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research project supporting the existence of retrocausal information flow. Possible alternative explanations to retrocausation are examined for each experiment. In each case it can be shown that retrocausal information flow is either a parsimonious explanation, or the only currently available explanation, for the observational data. Gedankenexperiments are then examined to demonstrate that regardless of observational effect size, empirical phenomena of the type seen in these experiments cannot produce time paradoxes.The theoretical discussion pursuant to the experimental data covers some of the basic problems in the physical representation of time. Human perception of time incorporates a dichotomy: the past is known but cannot be changed, the future is presumed to be indeterminate and hence controllable but unknowable in advance. Physical formalisms have difficulty in representing this dichotomy, arriving in the most extre...

Retrocausation, Consistency, and the Bilking Paradox

Retrocausation seems to admit of time paradoxes in which events prevent themselves from occurring and thereby create a physical instance of the liars paradox, an event which occurs iff it does not occur. The specific version in which a retrocausal event is used to trigger an intervention which prevents its own future cause is called the bilking paradox (the event is bilked of its cause).The analysis of Echeverria, Klinkhammer, and Thorne (EKT) suggests time paradoxes cannot arise even in the presence of retrocausation. Any self‐contradictory event sequence will be replaced in reality by a closely related but noncontradictory sequence. The EKT analysis implies that attempts to create bilking must instead produce logically consistent sequences wherein the bilked event arises from alternative causes.Bilking a retrocausal information channel of limited reliability usually results only in failures of signaling. An exception applies when the bilking is conducted in response only to some of the signal values that can be carried on the channel. Theoretical analysis based on EKT predicts that, since some of the channel outcomes are not bilked, the channel is capable of transmitting data with its normal reliability, and the paradox‐avoidance effects will instead suppress the outcomes that would lead to forbidden (bilked) transmissions.A recent parapsychological experiment by Bem displays a retrocausal information channel of sufficient reliability to test this theoretical model of physical realitys response to retrocausal effects. A modified version with partial bilking would provide a direct test of the generality of the EKT mechanism.Retrocausation seems to admit of time paradoxes in which events prevent themselves from occurring and thereby create a physical instance of the liars paradox, an event which occurs iff it does not occur. The specific version in which a retrocausal event is used to trigger an intervention which prevents its own future cause is called the bilking paradox (the event is bilked of its cause).The analysis of Echeverria, Klinkhammer, and Thorne (EKT) suggests time paradoxes cannot arise even in the presence of retrocausation. Any self‐contradictory event sequence will be replaced in reality by a closely related but noncontradictory sequence. The EKT analysis implies that attempts to create bilking must instead produce logically consistent sequences wherein the bilked event arises from alternative causes.Bilking a retrocausal information channel of limited reliability usually results only in failures of signaling. An exception applies when the bilking is conducted in response only to some of the signal values th...