I wrote: Your argument is general and would seem to go beyond protons, since it > operates at the level of quarks and gluons and so on and calls out nothing > specific to protons, in particular. You appear to extend the variable-mass > hypothesis to electrons; can I assume that it applies to neutrons as well? > If so, why would any form of energy arbitration, in which a magnetic field > is used to drain off a little bit of the mass of a proton, not also apply > to neutrons and electrons? >
There is a possible error here, which is partly hidden by the ambiguity of the phrasing, in which I seem to be suggesting that an electron is a hadron, composed of quarks and gluons. I was suggesting that, and I was wrong. I periodically forget that it is a fundamental particle. But the question still applies to neutrons. Eric
