I've been re-reading one of Puthoff's old papers from 1986, which was recenly referred to on Vortex, viz,
===================================================== Ground state of hydrogen as a zero-point-fluctuation- determined state http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v35/i10/p3266_1 ===================================================== Perhaps re-reading is a wild exageration since I find reading that kind of stuff like wading through treacle. However, I did find myself in sypathy with the executive summaries, i.e. the ===================================================== ABSTRACT We show here that, within the stochastic electrodynamic formulation and at the level of Bohr theory, the ground state of the hydrogen atom can be precisely defined as resulting from a dynamic equilibrium between radiation emitted due to acceleration of the electron in its ground-state orbit and radiation absorbed from zero-point fluctuations of the background vacuum electromagnetic field, thereby resolving the issue of radiative collapse of the Bohr atom. ===================================================== and the tail end of the discussion, ============================================================ Finally, it is seen that a well-defined, precise quantita- tive argument can be made that the ground state of the hydrogen atom is defined by a dynamic equilibrium in which collapse of the state is prevented by the presence of zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. This carries with it the attendant implication that the stability of matter itself is largely mediated by ZPF phenomena in the manner described here, a concept that transcends the usual interpretation of the role and significance of zero- point fluctuations of the vacuum electromagnetic field. =========================================================== but I would prefer to come at it starting with the neutron. Whilst in a nucleus the neutron is protected from being bashed around by the ZPE particles but once it gets outside it's only a matter of time before it's pummelled into the stable state of the hydrogen atom in its various configurations. Frank Grimer
