Compton Effect of Astrophysics

Certain of those assumptions seem reasonably sound. The idea that the Law of Gravitation applies equally everywhere in the Universe seems reasonable. The idea that the speed of light and other known constants such as PI and e and h are invariable also seem logical.

However, there is a well known phenomenon that might make certain of these constants appear as though they might have slightly different values. It is called the Compton Effect. It is well documented that there are some experiments where a photon interacts with an electron, and manages to impart some kinetic energy to the electron. The photon that then leaves the area has less total energy, which means that it is redder in color than before it interacted with the electron.

Virtually all objects that astrophysics are believed to be very distant, have very large red shifts. The standard understanding of this red shift is that it is entirely due to the Doppler Effect, where a light source that is moving away from us has fewer wavefronts getting to us each second, which therefore also causes a red shift. The Doppler Shift is so universally accepted as the cause of the red shift seen in all distant object that the phrases "Red Shift" and "Doppler Shift" are often used almost interchangeably.

The point of this essay is to suggest that there are a number of other possible sources for a red shift seen in stars' spectra. Something like the Compton Effect is worthy of consideration. So are other possibilities.

The general premise is that, in a light path that might be billions of light-years long, a lot of unrecognized things might happen! In empty space, there are not a lot of atoms and electrons, but in a path-length of billions of light years long, a photon might happen to encounter one. If it's interaction with an electron was such that a Compton Effect occurred, the continuing photon would have less energy, and therefore appear to be red-shifted.

In the case of the Compton Effect, it would be tough to present a persuasive argument though, regarding galactic red shifts. A Compton Effect encounter involves a single photon. If it had arisen from glowing Hydrogen, it would likely have a frequency of one of the Balmer series of Hydrogen spectrum lines. NOT any of the other Balmer lines! So, a single Compton Effect encounter might shift one of the lines of the Hydrogen spectrum by some red-shift, but the rest of the lines would not then be shifted. THAT would not explain it.

It would be more likely to have to conclude that there were MANY Compton Effect like encounters along the way, so many that statistical analysis would apply. That seems to be the only way where all of the various spectral lines would thus be shifted by similar amounts. But to claim that many Compton shifts which all happened to result in similar spectral shifts seems beyond credibility. There are assorted theoretical problems in such multitudes of small shifts, particularly the alteration regarding the direction of the propagation of the photons. They would probably then no longer seem to have come from a single source.

A specific example is an apparent consequence of relativity's time dilation. It is commonly accepted that a rapidly receding (or approaching) astronaut in a spacecraft would age more slowly than his twin brother left back on Earth, because of the effect of time dilation. If we had a strong enough telescope to see him, he would appear to be moving in slow motion! Now say that he had a container of glowing hydrogen in his spacecraft. The motion of those atoms of hydrogen would also seem to us to be moving more slowly, for the same time dilation reason. The result would be that the oscillation frequency of the hydrogen atoms would appear to be lower, which would appear to be a red shift to us.

This same effect should exist in any glowing star that is receding at relativistic velocities. In some cases, the red shift caused by this Time Dilation Effect is as much as 1/3 the size of the Relativistic Doppler Effect. An implication is that "real" Doppler shifts for very distant objects might only be 3/4 as great as previously thought. That would indicate that such objects are actually much closer than previously thought and they were receding as less velocity. These are huge implications, which could reflect on the scale of the Universe and many other things. I wrote a separate presentation on that subject, which is at:
Doppler Effect and A Description of Relativistic Red Shift public/reltvtyz.html

Advanced Physics-related presentations in this Domain:

Conservation of Angular Momentum - An Exception or Violation (Sept 2006)
Galaxy Spiral Arms Stability and Dynamics A purely Newtonian gravitational explanation (Nov 1997, Aug 1998)
Twins Paradox of Relativity Is Absolutely Wrong (research 1997-2004, published Aug 2004)
Perturbation Theory. Gravitational Theory and Resonance (Aug 2001, Dec 2001)
Origin of the Earth. Planetary Gravitational Resonances (Dec 2001)
Rotation of the Sun (Jan 2000)
Origin of the Universe. Cosmogony - Cosmology (more logical than the Big Bang) (devised 1960, internet 1998)
Time Passes Faster Here on Earth than on the Moon (but only a fraction of a second per year!) (Jan 2009)

Globular Clusters. All Globulars Must Regularly Pass Through the cluttered Galaxy Plane, which would be very disruptive to their pristine form. (Nov 1997, Aug 1998)
Existence of Photons. A Hubble Experiment to Confirm the Existence of Individual Photons (experimental proof of quanta) (Feb 2000)
Origin of the Moon - A New Theory (June 2000)
Planetary Rotation of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Earth (Jupiter has a lot of gaseous turbulence which should have slowed down its rapid rotation over billions of years) (March 1998)
Cepheid Variable Stars. Velocity Graph Analysis (Feb 2003)
Compton Effect of Astrophysics. A Possible New Compton Effect (Mar 2003)
Olbers Paradox Regarding Neutrinos (Oct 2004)
Kepler and Newton. Calculations (2006)
Pulsars. Pulsars May Be Quite Different than we have Assumed (June 2008)
Sun and Stars - How the Sun Works - Nuclear Fusion in Creating Light and Heat (Aug 2006)
Stars - How They Work - Nuclear Fusion. Lives of Stars and You (Aug 2004)
Sundial Time Correction - Equation of Time. Sundial to Clock-Time Correction Factor (Jan 2009)
General Relativity - A Moon Experiment to Confirm It. Confirming General Relativity with a simple experiment. (Jan 2009)
General Relativity and Time Dilation. Does Time Dilation Result? (Jan 2009)
Geysers on Io. Source of Driving Energy (June 1998)
Mass Extinction, a New Explanation. A New Explanation for Apparent Periodicity of Mass Extinctions (May 1998, August 2001)
Precession of Gyroscopes and of the Earth. Gyroscope Precession and Precession of the Earth's Equinoxes (Apr 1998)
Ocean Tides - The Physics and Logic. Mathematical Explanation of Tides (Jan 2002)
Earth's Spinning - Perfect Energy Source (1990, Dec. 2009)
Earth's Magnetic Field - Source and Logic. Complex nature of the magnetic field and its source (March 1996)
Earth Spinning Energy - Perfect Energy Source From the Earth's Spinning (1990, Nov. 2002)

Nuclear or Atomic Physics Related Subjects:

Nuclear Physics - Statistical Analysis of Isotope Masses Nuclear Structure. (research 1996-2003, published Nov 2003)
Quantum Defect is NOT a Mathematical Defect- It Can Be Calculated The Quantum Defect is a Physical Quantity and not a Fudge Factor(July 2007)
Atomic Physics - NIST Atomic Ionization Data Patterns Surprising Patterns in the NIST Data Regarding Atomic Ionization (June 2007)
Nuclear Physics - Logical Inconsistencies (August 2007)
Neutrinos - Where Did they all Come From? (August 2004)
Neutrinos - Olbers Paradox Means Neutrinos from Everywhere (Oct 2004)
Quantum Nuclear Physics. A Possible Alternative (Aug 2001, Dec 2001, Jan 2004)
Quantum Physics - Quantum Dynamics. A Potential Improvement (2006)
Quantum Physics is Compatible with the Standard Model (2002, Sept 2006, Oct 2010)
Quantum Dynamics (March 2008)
Ionization Potential - NIST Data Patterns. Surprising patterns among different elements (March 2003)

Mass Defect Chart. (calculation, formula) (research 1996-2003, published Nov 2003)

Assorted other Physics Subjects:

Precession of Gyroscopes and of the Earth. Gyroscope Precession and Precession of the Earth's Equinoxes (Apr 1998)
Earth's Magnetic Field - Source and Logic. Complex nature of the magnetic field and its source (March 1996)
Earth Spinning Energy - Perfect Energy Source (1990, Nov. 2002)

Earth Energy Flow Rates due to Precessional Effects (63,000 MegaWatts) (Sept 2006)
Accurate Mass of the Earth. Gravitational Constant - An Important Gravitation Experiment. (Feb 2004)
Tornadoes - The Physics of How They Operate, including How they Form. Solar Energy, an Immense Source of Energy, Far Greater than all Fossil Fuels (Feb 2000, Feb 2006, May 2009)
Radiometric Age Dating - Carbon-14 Age Determination. Carbon-14, C-14 (Dec 1998)
Mass Extinction, an Old Explanation. An Old Explanation for Apparent Periodicity of Mass Extinctions (Aug 2003)
Hurricanes, the Physics and Analysis A Credible Approach to Hurricane Reduction (Feb 2001)
Sundial Time Correction - Equation of Time. Sundial to Clock-Time Correction Factor (Jan 2009)

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C Johnson, Theoretical Physicist, Physics Degree from Univ of Chicago