Paper
10 September 2009 Elementary quanta: are they discrete individual entities?
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
The basic concepts of space and time have undergone radical changes in the course of history, which render the Newtonian notions of elementary particles obsolete. This was inherent in the formulations of quantum mechanics, as the zitterbewegung of quantum-mechanical free particles are not the same as that of classical ones. The quantum field theories do not fare any better as particles and the corresponding fields are inseparable concepts. As physical concepts are becoming fuzzy, the definition of what constitutes an experimental "discovery" of an elementary particle is being revised. In these attempts, the quasi-particles, which are simple mathematical conveniences, tend to be reclassified as physical entities. The current model depictions of physical vacuum as superconducting medium do not accommodate a picture of elementary particles as individual entities. It is a situation where interactions and interactants become entangled and description of either one independent of the other is unattainable.
© (2009) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Chary Rangacharyulu "Elementary quanta: are they discrete individual entities?", Proc. SPIE 7421, The Nature of Light: What are Photons? III, 74210R (10 September 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.828263
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KEYWORDS
Particles

Quarks

Photons

Physics

Bosons

Elementary particles

Quantum physics

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