Magnetism differs from charge because splitting a magnet gives two more magnets, each with its own north and south pole (Figure 5.13), but dividing a positive-negative charge produces positive and negative parts. Also, joining two small magnets gives a big one, so big magnets come from small ones, and the smallest possible magnet is the electron.
Electrons explain why metals can be magnets but not plastics. Copper conducts electricity because its electrons move freely, and it becomes a magnet for the same reason. The electrons in a metal usually point randomly but if they all point the same way, it becomes a magnet (Figure 5.14). In contrast, the electrons in plastics can’t move freely, so plastic can’t conduct electricity or become magnetic. Electrons then connect electricity and magnetism.
An electron is essentially a tiny magnet whose north pole is at right angles to its spin, and whose south pole is the opposite, so could spin cause magnetism? Quantum theory requires all matter to spin, so it is a basic property of matter, like mass and charge. Current physics calls spin imaginary because an electron is a point particle, so it can’t spin, but this model lets electrons spin outside space.
If spin causes magnetism, north and south poles are directions not parts, just as a plate has a top and bottom. Magnets then split into two magnets because separated spins still have an up and down. Charges can divide because a plate of two colors can divide into them, but magnetic poles can’t divide because every part of a plate still has a top and bottom. It follows that there can never be a north pole without a south pole.
Particle models postulate particles with one magnetic pole called magnetic monopoles. Nothing in Maxwell’s equations of magnetism prohibits them, so despite no evidence, they are argued to exist (Rajantie, 2016). But if spin causes magnetism, monopoles don’t exist, so this is yet another fruitless standard model search, like that for gravitons.
What then does spin do? By the Pauli exclusion principle, opposite-spin electrons can occupy the same point but same-spin electrons can’t. This applies because electrons can spin into different regions of quantum space (4.7.1), so if one spins up and the other down, they don’t overlap. In contrast, same-spin electrons compete for the same space. Spin then lets opposite spin electrons occupy the same point but not same spin electrons.
Again, if matter processing spreads, so will its spin. It doesn’t affect gravity much but between magnets, spin interacts. Between opposite magnets, opposite spins co-exist so space deepens, but between same magnets, same-spins compete by the Pauli principle, so space is shallower.
Opposite magnets deepen the space between them, so less competition lets the network run faster. The magnets restart more often where the field is faster, so they move together, i.e. attract. But between same magnets, same-spin processes compete for the same space so the network runs slower. The magnets restart more often away from each other, so they move apart, i.e. repel. Magnets then attract or repel by biasing the speed of the quantum field between them, just as charges do but for a different reason.
Gravity, charge, and magnetism then move matter in the same way, by biasing the quantum field around it. Gravity biases the field strength to attract matter only. Charges and magnets bias the field speed between them to attract or repel. In all cases, matter moves when changes in the field around it make it tremble more often one way.
Charge and magnetism both involve electrons, so why don’t static charges affect magnets? If magnetism is a spin direction, and charge is a processing remainder, these properties won’t interact. Spin doesn’t change charge, and charge doesn’t change spin, so they don’t affect each other.
Why then are electrical and magnetic fields always at right angles? Electrons as one-dimensional matter can only move as matter on one axis. When an electric field creates a current, electrons moving in the same direction must align their matter axes to do so, which also aligns their spins. An electron always moves on its matter axis and spins at right angles to that, so its magnetic and electrical fields are always at right angles.
Currents cause magnetism because aligning electrons to move in a direction also makes them spin the same way, which is magnetism. Electrons moving in one direction down a wire spin one way, and in the other direction spin the opposite way. Equally, when a magnet moves, it acts to align the electron’s axes so they move as a current.
Why then does magnetism fade faster than charge? Charge decreases as an inverse square because it spreads on a two-dimensional sphere surface but when spin deepens space, magnetism also spreads in a third dimension. The effect disappears between same poles, so magnetism fades on average more than an inverse square but less than an inverse cube.
In summary, gravity, charge, and magnetism move objects by biasing the quantum field, where gravity biases its strength and magnetism and charge bias its speed. Gravity, charge, and magnetism then all arise from the same quantum field.