Torsion, string tension, and topological origin of charge and mass

Abstract

We consider the analogy between torsion line defects and vortex lines in a superconductor to suggest that the electric charge and masses of elementary particles may have a geometrical origin. Just as the field vanishes everywhere in a superconductor except along the vortex line, where the flux is confined, we have the torsion being concentrated only along the topological defects, giving rise to charge as well as mass. The mass is related to the string tension (f c 2/G) and charge is connected with the gravitational permeability (f G/c 2), both induced by torsion.