Aug 20 2008
The Preferred Axis
Many physics experiments on earth are set up horizontal to the earth’s surface, so the preferred z axis in quantum mechanics is the same axis as the direction of a flood of gravitons coming out of the earth. It is certainly not the only direction gravitons are traveling, just the dominant direction and the direction of a vector summation.
Most measurements of the de Broglie wavelength, I presume, are also measured horizontally, as matter with velocity weaves through the gravitons. This brings us to the question of whether or not the de Broglie wavelength is dependent upon the strength of the gravitational field, and if so, what in the formula for this wavelength, λ = h/mv, is allowed to vary? If it is the mass, then transporting a particle to a weaker gravitational field will result in it measuring less in mass, and longer in wavelength for a given velocity, neglecting the relativistic effect.
In an area of space where the gravitational field is much weaker than the levels that we know of in our solar system, the concept of mass may have less relevance. A neutron star in such an area may not have mass as we know it and the de Broglie wavelength may not have as much meaning.
Values that would not change anywhere in the universe are Planck’s constant and the speed of light in a vacuum. The energy of a photon, which has no mass, would then of course remain as Planck’s constant times its frequency, anywhere in the universe.