Linked Questions
15 questions linked to/from Are virtual particles only a fictive tool in equations?
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Are virtual exchange particles real or just mathematical? [duplicate]
When an electron exchanges a virtual photon with another electron or proton, is the virtual photon a real particle or just a mathematical construct?
In string theory, the force carrier particles of ...
user86072
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Virtual particles, what do we mean by that? [duplicate]
This is probably more of a science philosophy question, but when we introduce those off-shell particles to explain some three body processes weird behaviour, do we really mean that there are actual ...
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Do virtual particles actually physically exist?
I have heard virtual particles pop in and out of existence all the time, most notable being the pairs that pop out beside black holes and while one gets pulled away. But wouldn't this actually violate ...
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Virtual particles and physical laws
Recently, I was reading about Hawking Radiation in A Brief History of Time. It says that at no point can all the fields be zero and so there's nothing like empty space(quantum fluctuation etc.). Now, ...
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Do virtual particles emit radiation?
When spontaneous electron / positron pairs annihilate, do they emit photons?
If so, does this not negate the first law of thermodynamics?
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How are virtual particles explained from the perspective of string theory?
I somewhat can wrap my head around virtual particles in terms of quantum field theory, (as much as possible), and I'm just curious how string theorists would describe them.
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How often do virtual particles pop out of the vacuum and annihilate each other? And do they have relative motion?
You all know quantum foam or zero point energy or virtual particles (same thing). It says matter and anti-matter pop out of the vacuum and immediately annihilate. At what rate do this occur per volume ...
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Why are attractive and repulsive forces symmetrical?
This question relates to the physicality of force exchange. I'm comfortable with QM as far as it relates to chemistry, (BO approximation, Hartree-Fock method, most particle interactions basics, etc) ...
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Are all field interactions carried out through force-mediating particles?
To my knowledge, all field interactions are carried out through force-mediating particles. For example, electromagnetic interactions are carried out through exchanging photons. However, under the ...
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Do the virtual particles have any mathematical meaning in vacuum in absense of real quanta? [duplicate]
I have edited this question with its title. Virtual particles, as I understand, arise as intermediaries in the calculations describing interactions such as scattering between real particles and in ...
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Has anyone measured the energy output of matter/antimatter annihilation? [closed]
I've looked everywhere I can think, this side of paywalls, and everyone provides Feynman diagrams or $E=mc^2$ to describe or calculate annihilation. It occurred to me that virtual particles come into ...
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Experiment validating existence of virtual particle
I'm curious about virtual particle whether do they really exists, therefore I dug out an experimental theory called lamb shift by measuring the difference between the two energy levels of a hydrogen ...
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Should Virtual Particles be used to explain other particles?
This is more of a statement than a question but I am bothered by the fact that to explain certain things, virtual particles are required. By definition these don't exist, yet they are used to explain ...
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Newtonian gravitation, with field lines [closed]
I use the following code to generate gravitational field lines. It works very well, but it is slow.
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Elementary Particles and Empty Space
I have next to zero knowledge when it comes to physics, so I'm sorry in advance for any ignorant descriptions and mistakes. One question regarding subatomic particles and empty space has been in my ...
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