Sithamalli K Balasubramanian
Sithamalli K. Balasubramanian | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Known for | Unitary (non-quantum) model of atomic structure |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Retired |
Sithamalli K. Balasubramanian is an Indian researcher based in Pune, Maharashtra, who has proposed an alternative, non-quantum-mechanical model of atomic structure. His work argues for a definite geometric structure at the nuclear level and a compulsory link between nuclear geometry and covalent molecular geometry, which he applies to explain the bonding and shapes of compounds of carbon, silicon and boron.
Biography
Balasubramanian is a retired researcher living in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Over several decades he developed and privately circulated a model of atomic structure that departs from mainstream quantum theory. His manuscripts were submitted to established chemistry journals but were not accepted for publication because they questioned the fundamental assumptions of current chemical theory rather than reporting conventional experimental discoveries.
Scientific contributions
Balasubramanian proposes a deterministic, non-mathematical model for atomic structure that differs from the accepted quantum model by assuming a definite structure at the nuclear level and assigning a compulsive link between nuclear and atomic structures. In this model there is an integral relation between the nuclear geometry and the covalent molecular geometry, which he holds to be consistent with the complex covalent chemistry of carbon.
According to the model, the known geometry of a number of covalent molecules can be explained, the inverted bond is accounted for, and additional bonding types are permitted: a new type of double bond with tetrahedral geometry, and a new triple bond, termed the benzyne triple bond, that is said to display cis–trans isomerism. The model has been extended in a series of three papers to the atomic structures of carbon, silicon and boron.
- Carbon — The model posits an integral relation between nuclear geometry and covalent molecular geometry and is used to explain the geometry of a number of covalent carbon molecules, allowing a tetrahedral double bond and a related triple bond.
- Silicon — A model for silicon, based on the assumptions of the carbon paper and built on the icosahedron, is described. It is intended to account for the tetrahedral geometry of the atom, to explain the formation and geometry of silicocene, and it postulates isotopic isomerism.
- Boron — Work on boron was described by the author as complete in concept but not fully documented or prepared for publication, and was presented as tentative. The method was also extended to nitrogen.
Publication history
The paper on carbon was submitted to the British journal Polyhedron in July 1990. The editor's reply of 20 August 1990 declined it as unsuitable for that journal on the grounds that it rationalised a number of known molecular structures rather than reporting new work in inorganic chemistry, suggesting instead a general or educational publication. In June 2003 a combined paper on carbon and silicon was submitted to the Journal of the American Chemical Society; the associate editor W. T. Borden replied that, while he thought the work should be published, manuscripts questioning the fundamental assumptions of current chemical theory were referred to more physical journals and he was therefore not sending it out for review.
Books
- 2014 - A Unitary Model for Atomic Structure (Kindle e-book, 158 pages)
Abstracts
- 2010 - "Dark Matter and Dark Energy" (Read in full)
- 2010 - "A Unitary Model for Atomic Structure" (Read in full)
- 2009 - "Critique of Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry" (Read in full)