- #1
LostConjugate
- 850
- 3
Hello,
In a previous discussion of Pair production I was shocked by what I heard and I have some questions from the general explanation of the subject.
So you can make fermions out of bosons? You can make rest mass out of energy?
Does this mean that not just relativistic mass, but also rest mass is just energy?
These are claims that are always shot down immediately anytime they are made around here with rest mass being implied as something more than energy, something mystical and intrinsic.
In a previous discussion of Pair production I was shocked by what I heard and I have some questions from the general explanation of the subject.
Pair production refers to the creation of an elementary particle and its antiparticle, usually from a photon (or another neutral boson). For example an electron and its antiparticle, the positron, may be created. This is allowed, provided there is enough energy available to create the pair – at least the total rest mass energy of the two particles – and that the situation allows both energy and momentum to be conserved.
So you can make fermions out of bosons? You can make rest mass out of energy?
The energy of this photon can be converted into mass through Einstein's equation E=mc² where E is energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light. The photon must have enough energy to create the mass of an electron plus a positron.
Does this mean that not just relativistic mass, but also rest mass is just energy?
These are claims that are always shot down immediately anytime they are made around here with rest mass being implied as something more than energy, something mystical and intrinsic.