Understanding Particle Mass Shells

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what does it mean when somebody says that a particle is on its mass shell? I have somewhat but not full understanding of that.
 
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captain said:
what does it mean when somebody says that a particle is on its mass shell? I have somewhat but not full understanding of that.

Ahoy there captain! :smile:

All real particles are on the mass shell.

Only pretend particles can be off-mass-shell … you use them in Feynman-type calculations, and then forget about them. :wink:
 
A particle is on mass shell if E^2 = (pc)^2 + (mc^2)^2 holds. Virtual particles are off mass shell.
 

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