On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 7:44 PM, Bob Cook <frobertc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Pair production, which I assume you agree is real, creates mass from empty > space. What is the source of this mass, or the equivalent energy? What > is the mechanism that makes this happen? > In the case of an incoming high-energy photon, the pair is produced as a result of the interaction of the photon with an electromagnetic field. The momentum of the incoming photon is conserved in the momentum of the outgoing electron and positron. > Why does not the rest mass of the electron or the positron include the > energy associated with the angular momentum that is intrinsic to those > particles? > I assume it does. Do you have a reference (other than Hotson) that says that the rest mass does not include the energy of the intrinsic angular momentum? Since the spin of the electron and positron is presumably intrinsic, I gather they would not be an electron and a positron without it. Their spin is +/- 1/2, which gives them fermi statistics. If they had a different spin, e.g. integer spin, they would have different characteristics and be other than an electron and a positron. (Note there's also the analogous case of the muon and antimuon, etc.) Eric
