Eric R. Hedin
Eric R. Hedin | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Extra-dimensional confinement of quantum particles |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Ball State University |
Eric R. Hedin is a physicist and, at the time of the work cited here, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana). He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Hedin is known for a speculative model titled "Extra-dimensional confinement of quantum particles," published in Physics Essays (vol. 25, no. 2, 2012) and later posted to arXiv. In it he proposes that elementary particles have a component of their wave function that extends into higher spatial dimensions, and he extends the Schrödinger equation to include fourth and fifth spatial coordinates. A higher-dimensional harmonic-oscillator confining potential localizes particles within ordinary three-dimensional space, characterizing a "brane tension" that confines Standard Model particles to the observed sub-manifold. He argues that quantum effects allow a small, non-zero probability for a particle's transient presence in the extra dimensions, suggests an experimental signature involving excitation into a higher-dimensional state, and proposes that such higher-dimensional excited states could offer an alternative account of dark matter. These proposals lie outside the mainstream of accepted physics.