User:Bgeelhoed/Radiation-Induced Mass

In theoretical physics, particularly in discussions of gravitation theories, Radiation-Induced Mass is the concept that the rest mass is a linear function of the local radiant flux. This idea was proposed by Shahriar Afshar in 1999 at a NASA-sponsored Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program conference.

Using a semiclassical gravity approach, Afshar argues that the mechanism behind inertia of elementary particles is not Mach's Principle but rather a non-thermal Zero Point Energy Radiation emanating from each elementary particle. This radiation process is assumed to be continous and the Doppler shift suffered by the radiation field during acceleration generates an imbalance in the momentum distrbution of the outgoing photons from the source, that subsequently produces a net force in the opposite direction to the accleration, in the same manner that inertial forces are observed.

On November 18, 2009, on the eve of LHC's launch, Afshar announced a wager against LHC being able to find the Higgs Boson in a New Scientist commentary, and later in a London Daily Telegraph article, offering instead his proposed theory on the origin of inertia.