Virtual particle
Virtual particles can emerge when the energy becomes large enough to create a system of a particle and an antiparticle.
Explanation
The time-energy relation explains that the amount of energy in a system is all the more uncertain the smaller the time scale on which the system varies, because
where
∆E Energy ∆t Time ℏ Reduced Planck constant
This form of the uncertainty principle shows that energy can be 'borrowed', which then gives rise to the creation of virtual particles. Feynman diagrams provide a simple visual representation of the interaction of these particles.
HistoryThe British quantum physicist Paul Dirac deduced the existence of antiparticles in 1928. |