What is the Universe expanding into..

Do you think there was anything before the big bang?

  • I don't think there was anything before the Big Bang

    Votes: 56 12.5%
  • I think something existed before the Big Bang

    Votes: 200 44.7%
  • I don't think the big bang happened

    Votes: 54 12.1%
  • I think the universe is part of a mutiverse

    Votes: 201 45.0%

  • Total voters
    447
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www.hifisonix.com
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I read the Quanta article on Frank Wizcek. Fascinating scientist who I must admit I’d never heard of ( :O ).

Great website with his articles for the WSJ

About | frankwilczek

10.A Physicist’s Nightmare of the Void - WSJ.pdf - Google Drive

Mere mortals like me will never understand the technical stuff these folks work on. There’s a few dealing with EM. Smart people like this seem so at ease with Maxwell’s equations
 
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The Primakoff Effect can lead to the conversion of an axion to a photon in an electromagnetic field, and vice-versa.

The-Primakoff-effect-a-real-photon-from-the-thermal-bath-is-converted-to-an-axion-by-the.png


In the above Feynman diagram, a real photon is converted to an axion by the electric field of a nucleus. The virtual photon is the disturbance or 'exchange particle' that enables the conversion.
 
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Axions have a little bit of mass - where does that mass go to Galu (serious question BTW). Might it be that an atom cannot be excited to a higher state without the presence of Axions which allow the production of photons? Is all the Axion mass converted to energy or does a another particle result maybe with a short life-time?
 
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Your expansion didn't help me, Bonsai.

Perhaps it is your mention of exciting an atom to a higher state with axions which is distracting me.

A typical visible light photon emitted from the hydrogen atom involves an electron transition of at least 1.89eV. The minimum value for a less energetic infrared photon is 0.66eV

In comparison, axions produced in the Sun's core are thought to have an upper energy limit of 0.079eV (95% confidence interval). Axion - Wikipedia
 
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ok

An axion has mass (cf Weinberg et al). It interacts with the nucleas of an atom. A photon is produced and (I assume) radiates out from the atom. What happens top the Axion? Has its mass changed? does it disappear and is its rest mass converted to energy? Or does it just remain an Axion and ready to produce another photon?

(BTW, separately I took a quick peak at Wilczek's paper on his website that he co wrote with his PhD advisor Goss when Wilczek was just 21 and for which he earned the Nobel Prize in 2003 - its about 3 pages long!)
 
Yes, is a virtual photon a particle?
Both I and indra have taken pains to assure you that a virtual photon is not a material particle.

As indra says, not all the things in physics that we call 'particles' in are in fact material objects. Some are simply hypothetical doo-dahs invented to try to explain some unexplainable physical phenomenon - like the virtual photon, which was invented to explain the electromagnetic interaction between charged particles such as electrons.

And that's even before we get into wave-particle duality. As noted before in this thread umpteen times, an electron can behave like a material particle in some circumstances and as an immaterial wave in others.

Similarly, a photon (a 'real' one!) can behave either as a particle or a wave,

I prefer to call a photon a wavicle! :D

In physics, one way to distinguish between mass and matter is to define matter as a substance consisting of particles that exhibit rest mass. Even so, in physics and chemistry, matter exhibits wave-particle duality, so it has properties of both waves and particles.
What Is the Definition of "Matter" in Physics?
 
An axion has mass. It interacts with the nucleas of an atom. A photon is produced and (I assume) radiates out from the atom. What happens top the Axion? Has its mass changed? does it disappear and is its rest mass converted to energy? Or does it just remain an Axion and ready to produce another photon?
Why ask me? :boggled:

I was blissfully unaware of the properties of axions until Steve mentioned the darned particles! ;) :D
 
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