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Comment by harperlee | Hacker News Reader

This reminded me of a physics theory in which all electrons are actually the same electron, going back and forth in time: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe

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even if it's a crazy idea, there's something attractive about a really simple, elegant answer to a complicated question.

"why are all electrons fundamentally the same"?

"because they're all the same electron."

(edit: oops, didn't realize I just quoted the wiki article until after I opened it)

It's not a theory so much as a metaphysical interpretation -- it's scientifically equivalent to the many-electron Universe.

It isn't if we can't find the electrons going backwards, which we generally can't. Nowhere near enough positrons in the right places. I consider it a fun example of the sort of thing that modern physicists should be familiar with, so it's useful both historically and for didactic purposes, but as a conjecture it appears to be simply false.

Sometimes I wish I knew some in-depth physics, take a bunch of LSD, and see what hidden truths would emerge... Does that happen? A bunch of scientists should really take some psychedelics together.

No, it could be disproven. Take a high-energy gamma ray, and have it undergo pair production, creating an electron and a positron. Capture both in the same Penning trap, then let them annihilate.

This would result in a loop that is disconnected from any other electrons, showing that the electron/positron in the loop is distinct from other electrons.

What happens when you destroy one?

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