On electron orbitals

[BadgerBadger92]

I have always been fascinated the idea that electrons “pop in and out of existence” around an atom but from what I’ve read, they’re not “popping in and out of existence. What is actually going on?

Could it be the quantum foam?

 

[berkeman]

but from what I’ve read

Can you post a link or two to what you have read about this? That will help us to try to help you understand what is going on. Thanks.

 

[BadgerBadger92]

Thanks for your help! It appears to be quantum fluctuations in the “quantum foam.”

“When scientists talk about particles like electrons popping in and out of existence, they are usually referring to quantum fluctuationsthat create ephemeral bursts of energy known as virtual particles.

Wikipedia +1
These phenomena can be broken down by exactly what is happening:

• Virtual Particles & Quantum Fluctuations: According to quantum field theory, empty space is never truly empty. It is a bubbling sea of energy where pairs of particles and their antiparticles (such as an electron and its antimatter equivalent, the positron) briefly borrow energy from the vacuum to exist before colliding and annihilating each other. You can explore the fascinating physics behind this concept in Scientific American.
• Quantum Leaps: If you are referring to an electron moving from one energy level to another within an atom, this is called an atomic transition, quantum leap, or quantum jump. During a quantum leap, the electron doesn't physically travel through the space in between; it effectively vanishes from its original orbit and appears in the new one.
• Annihilation: When a real electron meets its antimatter partner (a positron), they collide and transform completely into energy (gamma-ray photons). This mutual destruction causes the electron to disappear.”

 

[berkeman]

So from the title of your thread "On electron orbitals" you are only asking about electron energy level transitions in atoms, right? The Virtual Particles & Quantum Fluctuations and Particle-Antiparticle annihilations are different subjects.

Remember that electron "orbitals" are not like moons orbiting a planet. They are probability distributions -- This Wikipedia article may help:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital

 

[BadgerBadger92]

So from the title of your thread "On electron orbitals" you are only asking about electron energy level transitions in atoms, right? The Virtual Particles & Quantum Fluctuations and Particle-Antiparticle annihilations are different subjects.

Remember that electron "orbitals" are not like moons orbiting a planet. They are probability distributions -- This Wikipedia article may help:

View attachment 371812

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital

So it’s all about probability?
Thanks for your help!