Virtual particle: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:36, 20 August 2025

Revision as of 20:37, 20 August 2025

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As a consequence of quantum mechanical [[uncertainty principle|uncertainty]], any object or process that exists for a limited time or in a limited volume cannot have a precisely defined energy or momentum. For this reason, virtual particles – which exist only temporarily as they are exchanged between ordinary particles – do not typically obey the [[On shell and off shell|mass-shell relation]]; the longer a virtual particle exists, the more the energy and momentum approach the mass-shell relation.

The lifetime of real particles is typically vastly longer than the lifetime of the virtual particles. Electromagnetic radiation (in the [[far field|Near field and far field|far field]] of an accelerating charge falling off in amplitude by 1/r) consists of real photons which may travel light years between the emitter and absorber, but Coulombic electrostatic attraction and repulsion (in the near field of an accelerating charge that falling off in amplitude by 1/r^2) is a relatively short-range force that is a consequence of the exchange of virtual photons {{Citation needed|reason=Need an explicit source for why real particles cannot mediate short-range forces such as Coulombic interactions|date=February 2020}}.

== See also ==