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Re: HOLES AS CARRIERS Negative mass?



At 10:15 AM 10/10/01 -0400, Chuck Britton wrote:
Is this negative mass a characteristic of ALL holes???

All holes under any halfway-reasonable conditions.

I am aware of Heavy Holes and Light Holes but am having a bit of a
head-scratch with this Negative Mass Hole.

The light holes have a small |m|. The heavy holes have a larger |m|.

Some basic researchers study the dynamics of electron-hole pairs
ORBITING their common center of mass in suitable semiconductors. The
dynamics of Negative Mass that you describe have not yet meshed with
my primitive understanding of these orbital motion studies.

I can't parse this. Is there a specific question? Note that the bubble in
Tim's shampoo goes !up! under the influence of gravity, which is a sign of
negative mass. Replace the bubble with a lightweight cork that behaves the
same. Attach a piece of iron to the cork. You can apply magnetic forces
to the cork, and it behaves in non-ridiculous ways.

Or is this 'just' a 'good time' for us to adjust the zero level for
our mass scale (another problem for my feeble mind)

That's not the issue. Zero mass is still zero mass; it's not shifted.

Repeating: Do ALL holes display this negative (effective) mass
described by these Canadian Chemists?

A correct calculation is correct, even if a Canadian does it.
A correct calculation is correct, even if a Chemist does it.

If you give me a few million dollars worth of equipment, and a year or two
to get up to speed, I will inject electrons into the top of a band (where
holes normally live) and they'll have negative mass for as long as they
live there (not very long). Similarly I will inject holes in the bottom of
a band (where electrons normally live) and they will have positive mass for
as long as they live there. But.... under anything remotely resembling
equilibrium conditions, holes will have negative mass. They have to,
because their energy-versus-momentum curve bends downwards.