Virtual particles aren't particles (2011) (opens in new tab)

The "virtual" particles are intended to avoid the "action at a distance" issue with fields. The virtual particles are place-holders for calculations.

They came about from looking at the philosophical problem of "What is a field"? A field between two interacting electrons changes the electrons trajectory.

OK... but what does it mean for the electrons to "interact"? Saying "there's a field" is just a circular argument.

The better response is "they exchange a photon". OK, but is the photon real? No... it's just a place-holder to make calculations easier.

Do two electrons actually exchange virtual photons? No one really knows... All we can say is that the theoretical calculations match the experimental ones. What that means is a question for philosophers. :)

This is an amazing article that's made a lot of things much clearer for me. To stop thinking of particles as "things" and start thinking of them as certain configurations of a field. Perhaps it makes sense to think of them as configurations that the mathematics ensures are somehow stable.

And then virtual particles and other interactions make a lot more sense. They are just other configurations.

My new understanding might not be correct but this article has certainly opened my eyes and suddenly a lot of previous things make a lot more sense!

Didn't read the article, but aren't the "holes" as encountered in semiconductor physics also virtual particles? Or is this a new concept?

Something that I found rather interesting but still don't quite understand is the effect of the Uncertainty Principle in a vacuum. Apparently the Uncertainty Principle affects not only particles, but fields as well (which in my mind is possibly due to the mass/energy equivalence?). This manifests as disturbances, which is what causes these virtual particles to "appear" in a vacuum.

thanks. Human language seems to be an impediment to understanding here due to previous definitions of terms. Sometimes, it is better to create a completely new term than overload an old already-understood term.

Wouldn't "emergent particle" be a better term? The fact that it is a side effect of multiple particles doesn't make its effects less tangible. It feels like object orientation is clouding our perception.

Programming analogy:

There are several ways to implement the laws of physics. Virtual particles are an implementation detail, you can factor them out of the code, but it makes it a bit more readable.