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kichigai
I read that the electron may not have a real physical mass at its center. Is that possible? Does the electron have real physical mass at its center?
Mass is normally considered to be a form of potential energy or binding energy if I understand correctly. But "physical mass" or maybe it's called "mechanical mass" means something like a thing that has no electric or magnetic properties. Just a lump of something. I read about this in a book called: The Enigmatic Electron.HallsofIvy said:An electron certainly has mass. I'm not sure that's what you mean by "real physical mass". When you are at the size of an electron, the distinction between wave and particle (which is what I suspect you mean) is not clear.
zefram_c said:Mass is a physical property expressed through either inertia (resistance to movement) or gravity. Inertial mass is definitely a property of an electron. While electrons are affected by gravitational fields much like everything else, its own field is far too weak to measure directly.
Who authored that book, and what are the author's credentials?
With respect to the gravity of the earth, this is the mass in its weight form. But I believe that particle physicists tend to use energy values such as: 0.511 MeV for the electron which is why it is easy to understand that mass is said to be potential energy or binding energy. (My use of the terms: potential energy and binding energy, are out of context.)Hilbert Space said:That's not correct. The mass of the electron is 9.1 E -31 kg, not -27.
In this case, are you describing energy based mass or mechanical mass (aka real physical mass)?marlon said:In QFT, electrons have a mass after interacting with the Higgs-field. Mass can thus be seen as a sort of coupling constant for the "Higgs-interaction"
We speak of mass as being an energy value (often called potential or binding energy) and I asked about a "mechanical mass" which can also be called a "real physical mass" and so it seems we are describing the same object, but I want to be sure.Once this mass is acquired, we have to take into account renormalization. The physical mass that we measure is not really the QFT-mass after Higgs-interaction. The mass acquired after this interaction is called the naked mass, but the particle is surrounded by an infinite amount of virtual particles that lead to an infinite mass-value. So the naked mass value is also infinite but in a socalled negative way so that the two contributions (naked mass + virtual particles) give a finite positive mass value. This is the real physical mass.
These virtual clouds that surround a "naked" particle are things that come from the QED of Feynman in order to describe the interactions between fermions for example.
marlon
what_are_electrons said:a) infinite mass
b) naked mass
c) positive mass
Yes, an electron does have mass. However, it is a very small mass, approximately 9.109 x 10^-31 kilograms.
The mass of an electron is significantly smaller than the mass of a proton or neutron, which make up the nucleus of an atom. It is also smaller than the mass of other subatomic particles such as quarks and muons.
Yes, the mass of an electron is considered to be a constant value. However, in certain situations such as high energy collisions, the mass of an electron may appear to be larger due to relativistic effects.
The mass of an electron can be measured using various techniques such as mass spectrometry, which separates particles based on their mass-to-charge ratio, or by measuring the deflection of an electron in a magnetic field.
In normal circumstances, the mass of an electron does not change. However, in certain extreme environments such as inside a black hole or in the presence of high energy radiation, the mass of an electron may be affected.