阿西莫夫的小說《神們自己》中核反應的電荷不守恆？

問題源自阿西莫夫的小說《神們自己》中的一個基礎設定：每完成一個原子的物質傳遞，兩個宇宙之間會有20個電子的電荷交換。

但是如果電子通道兩端互相傳送的都是中性原子，是不會發生電荷交換的。原文中也提到發送的是中性原子，並且還提到電荷會在核反應過程中積累。但是核反應是滿足電荷守恆的，並不會發生電荷積累。

問題的詳細描述和原文的引用我將在下方Muzi Yuan的回答中詳細描述。

The next objection was more sophisticated. There was no possibility of Pumping all the electrons across. As the electrons were Pumped, the para-Universe would gain a net negative charge, and the Universe a net positive charge. With each year, as this difference in charge grew, it would become more difficult to Pump further electrons against the force of the opposed charge-difference. It was, of course neutral atoms that were actually Pumped but the distortion of the orbital electrons in the process created an effective charge which increased immensely with the radioactive changes that followed.

另一個反對的理由更加複雜。我們不可能把所有電子都發射過去。因為隨著電子通道的運轉，平行宇宙中的負電荷會越來越強。同理，我們宇宙中的正電荷越來越強。電荷一年年不斷增強，克服斥力發射電子就會變得越來越困難。當然，我們實際上發射的是中性的原子，但在這個過程中，原子核周圍電子軌道的扭曲會產生相應的電荷，加上隨後放射性的變化，電荷還會大幅增加。

可是如果考慮置換過程和核反應過程，我們可以不嚴謹但是直觀的列出如下三個核反應方程式。

b.核反應

of course neutral atoms that were actually Pumped

當然，我們實際上發射的是中性的原子

不符。

於是第二章，科普文是這樣說的：

In a since famous article in theNorth American Sunday Tele-Times Weekly, he wrote, "We cannot say in how many different ways the laws of the para-Universe differ from our own, but we can guess with some assurance that the strong nuclear interaction, which is the strongest known force in our Universe, is even stronger in the para-Universe; perhaps a hundred times stronger. This means that protons are more easily held together against their own electrostatic attraction and that a nucleus requires fewer neutrons to produce stability.

"Plutonium-186, stable in their Universe, contains far too many protons, or too few neutrons, to be stable in ours with its less effective nuclear interaction. The plutonium- 186, once in our Universe, begins to radiate positrons, releasing energy as it does so, and with each positron emitted, a proton within a nucleus is converted to a neutron. Eventually, twenty protons per nucleus have been converted to neutrons and plutonium- 186 has become tungsten-186, which is stable by the laws of our own Universe. In the process, twenty positrons per nucleus have been eliminated. These meet, combine with, and annihilate twenty electrons, releasing further energy, so that for every plutonium-186 nucleus sent to us, our Universe ends up with twenty fewer electrons.

"Meanwhile, the tungsten-186 that enters the para-Universe is unstable there for the opposite reason. By the laws of the para-Universe it has too many neutrons, or too few protons. The tungsten-186 nuclei begin to emit electrons, releasing energy steadily while doing so, and with each emitted electron a neutron changes to a proton until, in the end, it is plutonium-186 again. With each tungsten-186 nucleus sent into the para-Universe, twenty more electrons are added to it.

"The plutonium/tungsten can make its cycle endlessly back and forth between Universe and para-Universe, yielding energy first in one and then in another, with the net effect being a transfer of twenty electrons from our Universe to their per each nucleus cycled. Both sides can gain energy from what is, in effect, an Inter-Universe Electron Pump."

在後來發表在《北美星期天電訊周報》上的一篇著名文章中，哈蘭姆寫道：「我們很難說平行宇宙的自然法則跟我們這裡究竟有怎樣的區別，但我們能夠比較確信，在我們宇宙中能量最大的核反應在平行空間中會更加強烈，甚至比我們這裡要強上一百倍。這就意味著質子更容易克服靜電結合在一起，同時，原子核保持穩定所需的中子也更少。

「鈈-186在他們的宇宙中是穩定的。但如果到了我們的宇宙中，它原子核內的質子就太多了，或者說中子太少。這樣一來核力就不夠強，故而不可能保持穩定。鈈-186到了我們的宇宙以後，它開始輻射正電子，釋放能量。每輻射一個正電子，原子核內就有一個質子轉化為中子。最終，每個原子核中的20個質子轉化為中子，這時鈈-186也就變成了穩定的鎢-186。在這個過程中，每個原子核內少了20個正電子。釋放出的這些正電子又會中和掉我們宇宙中的20個電子，進一步釋放出能量。這樣一來，他們每傳送過來一個鈈-186原子核，我們的宇宙就會減少20個電子。　　

「與此同時，由於同樣的原因，進入平行宇宙的鎢- 186也會變成不穩定物質。根據平行宇宙的法則，它原子核內的中子太多，或者說質子太少。於是鎢-186的原子核開始向外發射電子，在此過程中不斷釋放能量，每發射一個電子就會有一個中子轉化為質子，直到最後變為鈈-186。每接收一個鎢-186原子核，平行宇宙中的電子就會增加20個。

「這樣一來，鈈和鎢就能夠在兩個宇宙之間永不停止地循環轉化，並不斷釋放能量。而這個過程的副作用僅僅是每轉化一個原子核，我們的宇宙向平行宇宙傳送20個電子。這樣雙方都能夠從這個『跨宇宙電子通道』的工作過程中獲取能源。」

這樣看來，似乎發送的又是原子核，這樣就前後矛盾了。

the distortion of the orbital electrons in the process created an effective charge which increased immensely with the radioactive changes that followed

加上隨後放射性的變化，電荷還會大幅增加

放射性變化並不會增加電荷。