Only one type of elementary electric charge?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the nature of elementary electric charge, specifically questioning whether there is only one type of elementary charge associated with particles like electrons and protons, or if there could be another type that is currently unknown. Participants explore theoretical implications and related concepts, including quark properties and photon interactions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that there is only one type of elementary charge, while others question the possibility of a second type.
  • One participant mentions the quark model, highlighting that electric charge is not the only elementary charge, as quarks also possess color charge and other properties.
  • Another participant discusses the interaction of photons and the potential for charge to arise from photon collisions, suggesting that if photons had a charge, it would differ from the electric charge associated with material particles.
  • Some participants express confusion regarding the implications of charge originating from photons and the nature of electric charge in this context.
  • Historical references are made to the discovery of additional types of charge associated with protons and the unification of forces.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether there is only one type of elementary charge. Multiple competing views are presented, particularly regarding the implications of quark properties and photon interactions.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the definitions and implications of charge types, and there are unresolved questions about the mathematical formulation of the concepts discussed.

south
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TL;DR
What if were there a second type of elementary charge ?
Is there only one type of elementary charge? The type of elemental charge that appears on particles such as electron, proton, etc. It is well known. Could there be another different type that we don't know yet?
 
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south said:
TL;DR Summary: What if were there a second type of elementary charge ?

Is there only one type of elementary charge?
Yes,
south said:
Could there be another different type that we don't know yet?
What does that mean? Can you write down an equation? (If not, that says something about your question)
 
south said:
TL;DR Summary: What if were there a second type of elementary charge ?

Is there only one type of elementary charge? The type of elemental charge that appears on particles such as electron, proton, etc. It is well known. Could there be another different type that we don't know yet?
Read about quarks here.
 
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south said:
TL;DR Summary: What if were there a second type of elementary charge ?

Is there only one type of elementary charge? The type of elemental charge that appears on particles such as electron, proton, etc. It is well known. Could there be another different type that we don't know yet?
In the quark model, electric charge is not the only elementary one. There is also color charge, which is a property of quarks, as well as other properties such isospin and strangeness etc.
 
Vanadium 50 said:
Yes,

What does that mean? Can you write down an equation? (If not, that says something about your question)
I can't mathematically formulate the core of my question. I can only comment on the reason for my question. I refer this to the vacuum. Two photons collide with each other under suitable conditions and a welectron-positron pair is the result of the collision.

Instead of bouncing one against the other, as two billiard balls would do, for example, the photons cause an event that conserves energy, the moment, etc., while transforming the traveling EM field (of the photons) into a pair of objects that have the possibility of existing without traveling with speed C, including speeds as small as we can imagine.

Each object in the formed pair has an electric charge. If the particles in the virtual particle hotbed had no opportunity to absorb the energy of photons to become real particles or to transfer charge to the two objects that form in the photon collision, then the charge on those objects cannot come from the virtual quantum hotbed particles. Obviously I don't know what the real case is, whether the particles in the boiler have opportunity or not.

My question is equivalent to asking what happens if the only feasible possibility was that the charge came from the photons. Photons cannot have the type of electronic charge, since they cannot have a mass that makes it impossible to travel to C. If they had a charge, it would be of a different type than the electronic charge. The latter is charge that appears in material particles (yes, I can qualify them). The charge of the photons would be charge that appears in a wave.
 
Last edited:
PeroK said:
In the quark model, electric charge is not the only elementary one. There is also color charge, which is a property of quarks, as well as other properties such isospin and strangeness etc.
Thank you PeroK for assisting me.I refer the question to two types of electrodynamic charging, not including chromodynamic properties.
 
kuruman said:
Read about quarks here.
Thank you very much kuruman
 
south said:
My question is equivalent to asking what happens if the only feasible possibility was that the charge came from the photons. Photons cannot have the type of electronic charge,
You lost me. The electron and the position each have electric charge. You want to know if that charge can come from photons via some as-yet unknown type of electric charge? Why would it if it's a different type of electric charge?
 
south said:
TL;DR Summary: What if were there a second type of elementary charge ?

Is there only one type of elementary charge? The type of elemental charge that appears on particles such as electron, proton, etc. It is well known. Could there be another different type that we don't know yet?
This happened historically. Protons were discovered to have other types of charged. Later on the force that uses those charges was unified with electromagnetism.
 
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  • #10
Mister T said:
You lost me. The electron and the position each have electric charge. You want to know if that charge can come from photons via some as-yet unknown type of electric charge? Why would it if it's a different type of electric charge?
Thank you very much for assisting me. I got lost too. Cordial greetings.
 
  • #11
Dale said:
This happened historically. Protons were discovered to have other types of charged. Later on the force that uses those charges was unified with electromagnetism.
Thank you very much for assisting me. Cordial greetings.
 
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