Re: Frames of Reference

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@sfu.ca>]

> Am I correct in remembering that the gravitational effect on anti-particles
> has not yet been measured? Fairbank at Stanford tried positrons and had too
> much induced noise. CERN tried antiprotons and had trouble with ground
> tides???

Fairbank actually thought he had seen the effect of gravity on
electrons at one time. Schiff showed him that he hadn't because
he had failed to note the intrinsic electric field generated in
his vertical copper tubing shield. It turns out that this field
is due to the gravitational concentration grdient of electrons,
just like the isothermal atmosphere problem. That field exactly
cancels the effect of the gravitational field on electrons in
the tube. I don't think he got around to positrons. They would
presumably have accelerated downward in the same tube at 2g.

Oh yes, Fairbank's electrons - they turned out to be negative
helium ions.

Leigh