mediator of electrostatic repulsion

rrosenthal

Is the repulsive force between 2 electrons---(as in an electrostatic situation)---mediated by a photon----?------R Rosenthal

OhYoungLions

Yes.

rrosenthal

any idea what wavelength the photon would be that would mediate the electrostatic repulsion----????---randy rosenthal

CAF123

The mediator here, the photon, is a virtual particle and as such exists for an amount of time allowed by the Hesenberg Uncertainty Principle. Therefore the photon must satisfy, [tex] ΔE Δt ≥\hbar [/tex]
To find this [itex] ΔE [/itex] requires knowledge of [itex] Δt [/itex], which could be found using the distance between the electrons divided by the speed of light. Then use the above equation to solve for [itex] ΔE [/itex], from which [itex] λ [/itex] can be found using [tex] ΔE = \frac{hc}{λ} [/tex]