What does it mean, an electron can scatter on a Z boson? What does this have to do with the electron emitting a Z boson? Aren't virtual particles (neutrinos, in the case at hand) just popping in and out from/into the vacuum? Thanks for bearing with me.
What I mean is this: A particle surrounds itself with a cloud of virtual particles, so I wonder if more virtual neutrino/antineutrino pairs would pop up from the ambient vacuum if the particle was highly energized (like those electrons in certain heavy atoms which reach relativistic velocities).
Hi everyone,
This is my first post. Years ago I read in a science magazine that (at least according to a certain theory) every shell electron would be accompanied by one (or was it two?) virtual neutrino(s). At least that's my recollection of what I read. I know it sounds a little crazy. I...