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virtual particle
(redirected from Virtual photon)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
virtual particle
n.
A subatomic particle whose existence violates the principle of conservation of energy but is allowed to exist for a short time by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

virtual particle
A short-lived subatomic particle whose existence briefly violates the principle of conservation of energy. The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics allows violations of conservation of energy for short periods, meaning that even a physical system with zero energy can spontaneously produce energetic particles. The more energy a virtual particle has, the shorter its existence. Interactions between normal particles and virtual particles play a crucial role in quantum field theory analyses of interactions between real particles. See also Casimir effectFeynman diagramvacuum fluctuation


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Next, the researchers trapped each of the virtual photons in a cloud of cesium atoms.
Next, the researchers trapped each of the virtual photons in a cloud of cesium atoms.
2[gamma]] (the "box-diagrams" 9), we split the virtual photon propagator, involved therein, into two parts [D.
 
 
 
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