﻿PHYSICS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNIVERSE 
  JEANS 
  181 
  

  

  rate 
  as 
  though 
  their 
  motion 
  was 
  governed 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  mechanics. 
  The 
  

   spontaneous 
  degradation 
  of 
  energy 
  we 
  have 
  had 
  under 
  consideration 
  

   is 
  now 
  seen 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  natural 
  extension 
  into 
  quantum 
  territory 
  of 
  that 
  

   imphed 
  in 
  Larmor's 
  classical 
  formula. 
  Had 
  it 
  not 
  been 
  for 
  this 
  de- 
  

   gradation 
  of 
  energy, 
  the 
  atoms 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  perpetual 
  motion 
  

   machines; 
  Larmor's 
  formula 
  prohibited 
  that. 
  The 
  quantum 
  theory 
  

   seemed 
  at 
  first 
  to 
  remove 
  the 
  prohibition 
  and 
  reconstitute 
  the 
  atom 
  a 
  

   perpetual 
  motion 
  machine. 
  Then 
  came 
  Einstein's 
  famous 
  paper 
  of 
  

   1917, 
  which 
  made 
  it 
  clear 
  that 
  even 
  under 
  the 
  quantum 
  theory 
  per- 
  

   petual 
  motion 
  was 
  banned; 
  spontaneous 
  degradation 
  of 
  energy 
  was 
  

   shown 
  to 
  be 
  implied 
  in 
  Planck's 
  formula 
  for 
  black-body 
  radiation. 
  

   Once 
  again, 
  then, 
  perpetual 
  motion 
  disappears 
  from 
  physics, 
  and 
  the 
  

   grit 
  in 
  the 
  bearings, 
  which 
  ultimately 
  brings 
  the 
  machine 
  to 
  rest, 
  is 
  the 
  

   natural 
  quantum 
  theory 
  analogue 
  of 
  that 
  which 
  would 
  have 
  brought 
  

   the 
  machine 
  to 
  rest 
  in 
  the 
  classical 
  electrodynamics. 
  Long 
  ago 
  we 
  

   used 
  to 
  call 
  it 
  the 
  interaction 
  between 
  matter 
  and 
  ether. 
  

  

  There 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  exception. 
  The 
  classical 
  electrodynamics 
  

   ruled 
  out 
  perpetual 
  motion 
  machines 
  entirely. 
  The 
  new 
  physics 
  also 
  

   rules 
  them 
  out, 
  but 
  permits 
  the 
  conspicuous 
  exception 
  of 
  atoms 
  in 
  

   their 
  state 
  of 
  lowest 
  energy; 
  these 
  can 
  go 
  on 
  in 
  perpetual 
  motion 
  to 
  

   all 
  eternity, 
  because 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  state 
  of 
  lower 
  energy 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  

   can 
  drop. 
  

  

  Is 
  this 
  exception 
  real 
  or 
  is 
  it 
  only 
  apparent? 
  In 
  a 
  sense 
  a 
  state 
  of 
  

   still 
  lower 
  energy 
  is 
  reached 
  when 
  the 
  electric 
  charges, 
  let 
  us 
  say 
  of 
  

   the 
  hydrogen 
  atom, 
  fall 
  into 
  one 
  another 
  and 
  the 
  atom 
  dissolves 
  into 
  

   radiation. 
  We 
  could 
  remove 
  the 
  apparent 
  exception 
  from 
  the 
  new 
  

   physics, 
  and 
  dismiss 
  perpetual 
  motion 
  machines 
  entirely 
  from 
  science, 
  

   by 
  supposing 
  that 
  after 
  moving 
  for 
  a 
  certain 
  very 
  long 
  time 
  in 
  its 
  

   state 
  of 
  lowest 
  energy 
  the 
  hydrogen 
  atom 
  dissolved 
  spontaneously 
  

   into 
  radiation. 
  This 
  might 
  be 
  dismissed 
  as 
  mere 
  idle 
  speculation 
  were 
  

   it 
  not 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  fundamental 
  physical 
  process 
  in 
  the 
  universe 
  as 
  

   a 
  whole 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  precisely 
  this 
  spontaneous 
  dissolution 
  of 
  atoms 
  

   into 
  radiation. 
  

  

  If 
  this 
  kind 
  of 
  spontaneous 
  dissolution 
  should 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  true 
  

   mechanism 
  of 
  the 
  transformation 
  of 
  astronomical 
  matter 
  into 
  radia- 
  

   tion, 
  then 
  clearly 
  bare 
  nuclei 
  and 
  free 
  electrons 
  must 
  be 
  free 
  from 
  

   annihilation. 
  Thus 
  the 
  conjecture 
  may 
  claim 
  some 
  support 
  from 
  the 
  

   circumstance 
  that 
  the 
  "white 
  dwarf" 
  stars, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  atoms 
  are 
  

   broken 
  up 
  completely, 
  or 
  almost 
  completely, 
  into 
  their 
  constituent 
  

   nuclei 
  and 
  electrons, 
  emit 
  exceedingly 
  little 
  radiation; 
  their 
  sub- 
  

   stance 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  immune 
  from 
  annihilation. 
  If 
  the 
  conjec- 
  

   ture 
  should 
  ultimately 
  prove 
  its 
  claim 
  to 
  acceptance, 
  the 
  main 
  physical 
  

   processes 
  of 
  the 
  universe 
  could 
  all 
  be 
  included 
  in 
  one 
  comprehensive 
  

   generalization, 
  and 
  the 
  speck 
  of 
  radium 
  which 
  we 
  watch 
  in 
  the 
  spin- 
  

   thariscope 
  would 
  symbolize 
  all 
  the 
  happenings 
  of 
  the 
  physics 
  of 
  the 
  

   universe. 
  

  

  