science

15117 readers

367 users here now

A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.

rule #1: be kind

<--- rules currently under construction, see current pinned post.

2024-11-11

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Protons inside, electrons outside. But why not the other way around? (self.science)

submitted 10 months ago by netvor to c/science

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Every time I try to understand how forces which hold atoms and molecules together work, I find myself wanting to ask this question: why not the other way around? Could there be an atom which has electrons and neutrons inside, and protons outside?

It feels like a silly question, but is there something we know about the universe we live in that implies that this is not possible?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] bjg13 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If anything, the universe seems to indicate that anything is possible in the multiverse, and that everything that is possible happens somewhere, mayhaps just in a locality we dont have access to. That being said, swapping an elementary particle like the electron for a proton made of quarks would involve corresponding changes to the way the forces worked, which might require a different spacetime geometry, or extra dimensions to make the math of the vibrational modes work. So, that's the most complex way I could think of to say there is no way to prove a negative. And those are all the words I know.

[–] netvor 5 points 10 months ago

Thing is, trying to do a complete swap, there's a point when the thought experiment kinda eats itself: you end up with a universe which is exactly the same, except the words "proton" and "neutron" are swapped.

The logic of it is fascinating in itself.