Here we see what scientists call annihilation. Essentially what this diagram says is that when a positron (electrons opposite) comes into contact with an electron it will for gamma radiation.
The question is why? well the answer comes from the basis of what particles are. Particles have no discrete boundaries and as such, we can treat them as standing waves that move in the same direction as the direction of the particle's motion itself (longitudinal waves). Electrons and positrons are standing waves with different phases so when they meet they "cancel" each other out meaning there are no more standing waves. But that doesn't exactly mean that there is no more waves entirely. According to energy conservation, that energy has to be released in some way, so these two subatomic particles release their energy by vibrating rapidly causing the production of a transversal waves or gamma rays. In this case its just two that are produced.
Its very important that you understand that these photons can also separate into electrons and positrons. You'll be surprised to know that interactions like this are happening everywhere around us even in space, and it's not just between these two particles, there are a variety of opposite pairs of particles that can be created. While the net amount of energy in this field cancels out. Some scientists even speculate that the expansion of the universe is the result of quantum fluctuations pushing cosmic bodies away from one another, expanding throughout space. It creates this really energetic bubbles of energy known as quantum foam. Its a huge reason why helium is unable to freeze even at absolute zero. General Relativity and Quantum mechanics don't exactly agree on what the energy of the field is with value ranging from infinite energy all the way to near zero, although close to zero is the more likely value.
No comments:
Post a Comment