On Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 7:32 PM Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 10:27 AM Jason Resch <[email protected]> wrote: > >> These videos provide a good introduction: >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5rAGfjPSWE >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG52mXN-uWI >> >> Virtual particles are the basis of all particle interactions in QED, >> called the jewel of physics for having made the most accurate predictions >> of any physical theory. >> > > The trouble is that virtual particles are internal lines in Feynman > diagrams, and the Feynman diagrams are formed as a perturbation expansion. > They have to be summed to make contact with physical processes. This puts > the status of virtual particles, as ontological entities, into considerable > doubt. Ultimately, they are nothing but a calculational device, and quantum > amplitudes can be evaluated without ever using Feynman diagrams, so virtual > particles need never appear anywhere. > > But this "calculational device" (funny how many things are mere devices) predicts the lamb shift as well as the Casimir effect, to great accuracy. Jason -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CA%2BBCJUh0xN44PEBrn3TcPWj04TZ%2BXmP%3DbJ%3D0ZTdqToEVD8tHEw%40mail.gmail.com.
