Photon & Magnetism: Force Carrier?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the role of photons in magnetism, specifically questioning whether photons act as force carriers that create magnetic forces by spinning around particles. Participants examine the nature of force carriers and their interactions with matter particles.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that photons might spin around particles to create magnetic force, proposing that their paths could act as a barrier, thus generating force.
  • Another participant simply responds with "No," indicating disagreement with the initial proposition.
  • A later post reiterates the initial question about photons and magnetic force, referencing an analogy from particleadventure.org about force carriers and their role in particle interactions.
  • The analogy describes force carriers as particles exchanged between matter particles, likening them to basketballs tossed between players, but notes limitations in explaining attractive forces.
  • It is mentioned that force carriers can only be absorbed or produced by matter particles that are affected by that particular force, with photons specifically linked to electromagnetic interactions involving charged particles.
  • One participant recommends reading Feynman's "QED" as a resource for understanding these concepts.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus, as there is a clear disagreement regarding the role of photons in magnetism, with some proposing a model involving photons as force carriers and others rejecting this idea.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes speculative ideas about the nature of force carriers and their interactions, with references to analogies that may not fully capture the complexities of attractive forces.

richerrich
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In magnetism does a photon (or stream of) spin around a particle to create magnetic force? Or to ask this another way, are photons force carriers in such a way that since they spin around a particle so fast, their paths have become effectively a barrier, hence the force.
 
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richerrich said:
In magnetism does a photon (or stream of) spin around a particle to create magnetic force? Or to ask this another way, are photons force carriers in such a way that since they spin around a particle so fast, their paths have become effectively a barrier, hence the force.

This could be an interesting explanation to my question (from particleadventure.org):
"It turns out that all interactions which affect matter particles are due to an exchange of force carrier particles, a different type of particle altogether. These particles are like basketballs tossed between matter particles (which are like the basketball players). What we normally think of as "forces" are actually the effects of force carrier particles on matter particles.

The basketball animation is, of course, a very crude analogy since it can only explain repulsive forces and gives no hint of how exchanging particles can result in attractive forces.

We see examples of attractive forces in everyday life (such as magnets and gravity), and so we generally take it for granted that an object's presence can just affect another object. It is when we approach the deeper question, "How can two objects affect one another without touching?" that we propose that the invisible force could be an exchange of force carrier particles. Particle physicists have found that we can explain the force of one particle acting on another to INCREDIBLE precision by the exchange of these force carrier particles.

One important thing to know about force carriers is that a particular force carrier particle can only be absorbed or produced by a matter particle which is affected by that particular force. For instance, electrons and protons have electric charge, so they can produce and absorb the electromagnetic force carrier, the photon. Neutrinos, on the other hand, have no electric charge, so they cannot absorb or produce photons."
 
richerrich, you ought to read Feynman's "QED". It is a very approachable little book that explains everything.
 
JDługosz said:
richerrich, you ought to read Feynman's "QED". It is a very approachable little book that explains everything.

Thank you.
 

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