This chapter deals exclusively with the author's interpretation of the true cause of the ferromagnetic state in iron, nickel and cobalt. Its only relevance to the 'Physics without Einstein' theme is its historical connection with the author's research which gave reason for writing that book.
My Ph.D. research at Cambridge had involved me in the experimental investigation of the anomaly by which iron cores in power transformers subjected to a.c. magnetization defied theory by generating excess heat. One aspect of that research concerned the effect of mechanical stress on ferromagnetic properties, including that mysterious loss. I backed that by my own theoretical analysis as to why iron, nickel and cobalt were ferromagnetic but copper, for example, was not ferromagnetic. I was very doubtful concerning electron spin as a primary contributor to the magnetic polarization of the ferromagnet, this having become the standard belief, one rooted indirectly in theory associated with Einstein's relativity. My reason, simply, was that it gave me no handle on which to grasp in trying to relate mechanical stress with electron interactions in adjacent atoms.
In the event what emerged was what you see as chapter 3 of 'Physics without Einstein'. There were two major 'spin-off' topics that came from this effort.
One, the subject of my 1971 conference paper presented at a meeting of the Magnetics Group of the German Physical Society held in Salzburg on March 29, 1971, and eventually, after several years, published in Speculations in Science and Technology [1978c], is the very important confirmation of my theme in this chapter 3, by showing how the apparent non-integer atomic quantization of magnetic polarization in iron, nickel and cobalt has in fact an integer foundation. This was important in the context of a mechanical stress theory for determining the threshold separating a ferromagnet from a non-ferromagnet and equally important in providing an explanation for the low anisotropy properties associated with magnetostriction.
The other was something very important in the context of 'Physics without Einstein'. It was the fact I had to become wholly committed to the belief in a real aether when I made my discovery of my revolutionary explanation of the g-factor-of-2 phenomenon as not being due to so-called electron spin but simply being an orbital electron property, this being consistent with the ferromagnetic theory I had developed. The g-factor reaction had also to involve aether charge reaction to account for magnetic fields set up in vacuo.
The 'spin-off' feature was that the structured model of an iron crystal I had used, with certain similar-state electrons of atoms moving in orbits in perfect synchronism, had taxed my mathematical skills in the days when numerical analysis implied use of slide rules and six-figure logarithmic tables but given me certain data. That data was relevant to the very physical model that, subject to simplification to deal with a simple-cubic form as opposed to body-centred cubic form, I was able to use as a model for the aether itself. It was so easy then to see how the aether determined the photon energy quantum, something closely related to the Bohr magneton quantum that featured in my theory of ferromagnetism. Indeed, I was overwhelmed at the speed at which my aether theory then developed.
The subjects of chapters 4, 5 and 6 were the immediate follow-on from that major step in diverting my attentions from ferromagnetism and switching my interest to more fundamental theoretical issues, which were to include that law of electrodynamics, itself a key factor in making sense of the force balance in the ferromagnetic model I had been studying. Once into the realm of aether, which posed a challenge concerning Einstein's theory, and once focussed on the true version and very basis of the law of electrodynamic action, I naturally set my sights on gravitation, the theme of chapter 5.