Recent content by Nevada City Bob

I am not well versed in real versus virtual particles and don't know why the real particles are a "different situation." What was the original situation? Perhaps you could recommend some reading that would cover this ground. Thanks

I'm afraid that doesn't clear it up for me. I still wonder how bosons sustain forces over time. Also, if they are not particles why are they always referred to as such, and pointed to in these graphs of particles that are seen after a collision in an accelerator? Another example is the Higgs...

I've never been able to get my head around the idea that forces are particles. In the case of fermions, a particle seems to be a natural concept. Even though it's really a wave, or an excitation in a quantum field, I can envision it as being something in a particular place. For bosons that...

Hi. I'm a retired software engineer who has always been fascinated in science. I was a math major in college, before the time that computer science majors were a thing. My key areas of interest these days are particle physics and quantum mechanics. I'll be asking some questions that have...