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  4. Does virtual photons exist?
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Does virtual photons exist?

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Offline pinballed (OP)

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Does virtual photons exist?
« on: 22/09/2012 20:08:49 »
Hey,
red in a book (forgot which one) that they exist, that they can even be measured in giving an electron slightly more energy than i has by it self.
Now reading "the theory about almost everything", and they mean that the virtual photon is a "handy concept" but apart from this no one knows
if they exist....

Can anybody enlighten me?

Thanks Magnus
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Offline lightarrow

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Re: Does virtual photons exist?
« Reply #1 on: 22/09/2012 20:15:23 »
They are not real, but everything goes "as if" they existed. Essentially they are a useful mathematical instrument, but nothing else than this, infact the same problem could be solved without making use of them and gives the same results.
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Re: Does virtual photons exist?
« Reply #2 on: 22/09/2012 21:15:50 »
Thanks for a prompt answer!
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