On the Mysteriously Disappearing Valence Electrons of Rare Earth Metals & Hierarchy of Planck Constants

Abstract

The so called Lifshitz transition in which the heating of rare earth metal leads to a mysterious disappearance of some valence electrons is a longstanding puzzle of atomic physics. The identification of dark matter as phases of ordinary matter with non-standard value of Planck constant suggests an explanation in terms thermally induced transitions of valence electrons to dark states with smaller binding energy proportional to 1/n^2. This could be achieved also by irradiation. If this is true, an entire spectroscopy of dark atoms is waiting to be discovered. Also biologically important ions proposed to be dark could be dark atoms in the sense that some valence electrons are dark. This finding inspires the question whether also ordinary valence bonds could correspond to non-standard value of n.