Static forces and virtual-particle exchange: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
Seems valuable, but needs rewrite in encyclopedic form. Admonishment to look critically and avoid fallacy is unwikipedic. CERN experiments are cited, but then criticized in a way appearing to be original research. Please reinstate with improvements.
AnomieBOT (talk | contribs)
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Fact}}
Line 5:
The [[path integral formulation]] is the natural language for describing force carriers. This article uses the path integral formulation to describe the force carriers for [[Spin (physics)|spin]] 0, 1, and 2 fields. [[Pion]]s, [[photon]]s, and [[graviton]]s fall into these respective categories.
 
As with any physical theory, there are limits to the validity of the virtual particle picture. The virtual-particle formulation is derived from a method known as [[perturbation theory]] which is an approximation assuming interactions are not too strong, and was intended for scattering problems, not bound states such as atoms. For the strong force binding [[quark]]s into [[nucleon]]s at low energies, perturbation theory has never been shown to yield results in accord with experiments,<ref>[http://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/theory/research/hadronic.html]</ref> thus, the validity of the "force-mediating particle" picture is questionable. Similarly, for [[bound state]]s the method fails.<ref>[http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/752.mf1i.spring03/Time_Ind_PT.htm]</ref> In these cases the physical interpretation must be re-examined. As an example, the calculations of atomic structure in atomic physics or of molecular structure in quantum chemistry could not easily be repeated, if at all, using the "force-mediating particle" picture.{{fact|date=October 2014}}
<!-- Text below hidden for the time being (vs. being deleted) because it seems valuable, but needs rewriting in an encyclopedic form. Admonishment to look critically and avoid fallacy is unwikipedic. The CERN experiments are cited, but then criticized in a way appearing to be original research. Please reinstate with improvements. -->
<!--/Additionally, one should look critically at the recent CERN experiments in which evidence is shown supporting the physical reality of the Higgs boson, which is a force-mediating particle. One should be careful not to make the logical error known as [[Reification (fallacy)|reification]], which confuses concept and reality. -->