Answer 1:
Unfortunately, the picture of forces being
mediated by particles isn't all that accurate.
The reason we use this picture is because in the
best quantum theory we have, called quantum field
theory (QFT), there's an approximate technique for
doing calculations called Feynman diagrams (we
have to use approximations because unfortunately,
doing exact calculations in QFT is really hard!).
In these Feynman diagrams, we draw lines
representing different types of particles, and
where the lines meet is where we say the
"particles" are "interacting." I put those words
in quotes because in this context, "particles" is
sort of a hand-wavy term, and shouldn't really be
thought of as fundamental objects (there is a more
rigorous way to define particles in flat
spacetime, but that's not relevant here).
Now, the particles that transmit forces (called
"bosons") are what are called virtual particles -
that means that they only exist in these Feynman
diagrams and are not detectable. Since they can't
be detected, there's not much sense in calling
them "real," and so the picture of massive objects
losing energy through radiation of virtual
particles is not an accurate one (of course, black
holes do lose energy through Hawking radiation of
real particles, but that's another story). Click Here to return to the search form.
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