Timeline for What would be likely to completely stop a subatomic particle assuming it was possible?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Sep 21, 2012 at 1:20 | comment | added | Freedom | First, quantum tunneling is possible because of the indefinite position/momentum of the particle. Since the particle's observed position is determined by the wave function, when there is a potential barrier, the solution slightly bleeds past the classically defined barrier. The proton, like the electron, do not possess a classical "surface". With the advent of QFT we understand the electron and proton as regions of space with intense particle-antiparticle creation/annihilation events where there are net positive amounts of the properties associated with a particle. | |
| Sep 20, 2012 at 18:48 | comment | added | Ehryk | Why can't it 'fall in' but not be captured by a proton? It seems through Quantum Tunnelling that an electron can sometimes be inside of a nucleus - so what's stopping it from just 'touching' the proton and sitting on its surface? | |
| Sep 20, 2012 at 17:50 | history | edited | Freedom | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 20, 2012 at 17:42 | comment | added | Freedom | @Ehryk A good question, and FrankH is correct. A good reference is to read the wikipedia article on electron capture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_capture | |
| Sep 20, 2012 at 16:49 | comment | added | FrankH | What stops an electron in hydrogen from falling and emitting a last photon? Conservation of energy: e+p->n+photon cannot proceed because the neutron is heavier than the electron+proton. Also the EM force does not allow that reaction even if the e has enough energy. However, the weak interactions allow e+p->n+neutrino, but again only if the e has enough energy to create a neutron from a proton. | |
| Sep 20, 2012 at 16:43 | vote | accept | Ehryk | ||
| Sep 20, 2012 at 16:43 | history | bounty ended | Ehryk | ||
| Sep 20, 2012 at 16:30 | comment | added | Ehryk | So what's stopping a ground state hydrogen electron from emitting that one last quanta as a photon and falling into the nucleus? | |
| Sep 20, 2012 at 12:21 | history | answered | Freedom | CC BY-SA 3.0 |