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asya
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Electron can scatter off virtual photon of Coulomb field (or even emit real photon). But why it cannot do the same off virtual photons of vacuum fluctuations without external field?
Vacuum fluctuations, also known as quantum fluctuations, are temporary changes in the energy levels of particles in a vacuum. These fluctuations arise from the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics and can result in the spontaneous creation and annihilation of particle-antiparticle pairs.
Electrons can scatter off vacuum fluctuations through the process of virtual particle exchange. This means that the electron interacts with a temporary particle-antiparticle pair that appears due to vacuum fluctuations, causing a change in its trajectory.
This phenomenon is important in understanding the behavior of particles at the quantum level. It also has implications in various fields such as quantum field theory, cosmology, and condensed matter physics.
Yes, vacuum fluctuations can affect the motion of electrons in a vacuum through the scattering process described above. However, the effects are very small and are only noticeable at the subatomic level.
No, it is not possible to directly observe this phenomenon as vacuum fluctuations are inherently unpredictable and constantly changing. However, their effects can be indirectly observed through experiments and calculations in quantum mechanics.