How are gauge bosons created and do they exist virtually everywhere?

[jerich1000]

Sorry for the newbie question. Just slap me and direct me to the right post. I did some searches but couldn't find my answer.

If a fundamental particle must exert one of the fundamental forces against another fundamental particle, are the appropriate gauges boson then created by the first particle, or do all gauge bosons exist "virtually" everywhere anyway and are just "turned on" or activated by the fundamental particle's need for the force?

If the first particle's force "creates" the gauge boson, can such heavy particles be created from nothing because of their short life-span--which is why they're "virtual"?

It seems like these questions are fundamental to modern physics, which is why suspect I'm going to receive some severe slapping.

Thanks.

 

[kurros]

If a fundamental particle must exert one of the fundamental forces against another fundamental particle, are the appropriate gauges boson then created by the first particle, or do all gauge bosons exist "virtually" everywhere anyway and are just "turned on" or activated by the fundamental particle's need for the force?

I am not sure how to answer in quite the framework you are suggesting, but observe the Feynman diagram for electron-positron annihilation to two photons on this wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron–positron_annihilation

So that's one way to create some gauge bosons.

In some sense yes, the gauge bosons DO exist "virtually" everywhere to begin with (that more or less describes the vacuum), this is quantum field theory so we have quantum fields filling all of space, and you just need to kick them the right way to create real particles out of them.

 

[naima]

have you read http://www.kurzweilai.net/creating-photons-from-a-vacuum

 

[jerich1000]

naima, That was EXACTLY the type of information I needed. The smartest people in the world are those who create posts on this site.

Thanks tons. Or should I say, thank kSlugs.