The energy of radiation consists of single particles we call quanta, almost the same way as matter is composed of particles, that is, of atoms. With this, we introduce the principle that every energy has mass, and since an atom is composed of quantum units of electricity, electrons, and protons, every mass also has energy. Before quantum theory, it was implied that every object could be assigned a certain position, a single point in space. It was implied that the body was there and nowhere else. This interpretation was completely changed in quantum physics. A quantum object is an object that is not localized. One cannot say that an electron is located at a particular place. It certainly exists as an electron, but it does not have a unique and precisely defined position. It cannot be assigned a precise location. On our physical stage that electron is “gifted” with some sort of presence in several places at the same time. For the location of a quantum object, we can say that it is approximately at a certain place, but with a certain degree of vagueness. Electrons are said to be neither particles nor waves, but they can manifest themselves in various experimental situations. According to the uncertainty principle, if we know the velocity of a particle, its position must remain uncertain.
Physicists are even prepared to think this way: “Essentially if we do not know where an electron is located, it means that it is located nowhere, or more precisely – it is not located at a specific place.”[1]. Electron is not characterized by completely defined numerical values, but rather by spectra. It does not occupy one but several positions simultaneously. Since a quantum object, such as an electron, is considered to be in several places at once, it becomes genuinely difficult to break the world down into small, mutually independent parts. The non-locality of quantum objects results in a certain correlation between physical phenomena that are spatially very distant yet occur simultaneously. This is an astonishing idea from the perspective of classical physics. A quantum physicist experiences all of this in a way that makes classical thinking seem unclear to him. Every day in his laboratory he is faced with the properties of electrons, protons, and all kinds of quantum objects being located at multiple places at the same time. For him, it is a true miracle that an object that essentially consists of electrons, protons, and neutrons, behaves so differently from its components. Why classical phenomena stand on a firm ground despite being based on such a different quantum theory, is something modern physicists still do not know. For this reason, the question above all questions for them is – how to connect the quantum with the classical world?
Although we are essentially dealing with two, in a way opposing theories – Einstein’s relativity and quantum theory, the relativistic concept of space is not what opposes them, as space is not something quantified in quantum theory. If we imagine space figuratively as a stage on which physical processes take place, then when observing the events in a classical or quantum context it is not the stage that changes, but rather the actors. The way classical and quantum actors “play their role” has absolutely nothing in common. Undoubtedly, the transformation here is complete and change radical. On that unchanged stage, and within the same time-space framework, behaviours are completely different because the specific properties of physical objects change. According to quantum theory, there is no concept of a “path” or “trajectory” for microparticles. All we can learn about the behaviour of a microparticle is the probability of it appearing at one location or another. Quantum mechanics, the interaction of quantum objects, is also called wave mechanics. In the relativistic approach, an electron could also have negative energy, according to the formula. That formula looks as follows:
where P is the impulse of the mass, and M is the mass.
Relativity does not prohibit a particle from having negative energy. According to the same formula, a particle at rest has the minimum energy. When P = 0, then Emin = + M. According to the relativistic interpretation, the energy of a particle changes continuously, starting from some minimum value. This means that the principle of the change in energy state directly makes it impossible for the energy to change from E = + M, i.e. Emin to E = 0, and especially to E = – M. This state is illustrated in this figure:
From the figure, we can see that the area E>0 is separated from the area E<0 by an interval of 2M and that according to the continuous mode of change in energy states, a jump from E = + M to E = – M is impossible.
What is impossible in relativity is possible in quantum theory. In quantum theory, the energy of particles changes in jumps, so in principle, a particle can jump from the area E>0 to the area E<0. Such a jump would change the electron’s charge from negative to positive. However, one such jump, while theoretically possible, is prevented by the law of conservation of energy. To ensure the conservation laws are satisfied and to preserve the theoretical possibility for an electron jumping to the area E<0, it was necessary to introduce a new condition prohibiting the jump, because it does not occur. Physicists assumed that in our world states with negative energy are filled to the maximum with electrons, which prevents electrons from jumping into the area E<0 since there is no free space. We can see in the figure that on the axis of positive and negative energies, the ends extend to infinity. This implies that the number of occupied states with negative energy must also be infinite. There is a way to determine whether the vacuum is completely empty or whether there is something within it, after all. Let us take a gamma quantum with high energy sufficient to overcome the 2M energy gap and pull an electron out of the vacuum. Then, an electron will appear in the area of positive energies, and an unoccupied state, called a hole, will appear in the area of negative energies. That hole has an electric charge of +e and a mass ≥ M. This was how physicists discovered the theoretical possibility of the existence of reality previously unknown. The fundamental principle was confirmed in practice. When we attempt “to extract” an electron from the vacuum, which means from nothing, not one but two particles appear in reality: a regular electron and a particle with a charge +e and a positive mass +M. Physicists named this particle an antielectron or positron, interpreting it as a hole in the area E<0. If we accept that the vacuum is not empty, we must be consistent and assign it the only possible properties it should have physically. The vacuum must be understood as having, because it is filled with electrons, infinite negative charge, infinite negative energy, and infinite density. Moreover, we perceive and interpret these properties in such a way that the vacuum, although not “empty”, does not in any way affect the physical properties of any system in the area of positive energies. For such a theory to be accepted, a change in the understanding of the fundamental properties of nature was necessary. To this day, the main “drawback” of this theory remains unresolved: the fact that a vacuum with infinite energy and density must be devoid of any physical influence, and thus of meaning.
In the sea of electrons with negative energy,
one position remains unoccupied. A hole is formed.
From all of the above, a complex structure of the vacuum follows. If the vacuum previously represented a stage, a platform on which physical phenomena occurred, now that same vacuum plays one of the main roles. The properties and composition of a vacuum have a decisive influence on accurately describing interactions between elementary particles. The process in which an electron jumps from E>0 and fills a hole i.e. connects with its antiparticle, is called annihilation. In this process, energy is released.
It is known that different objects require forces of different magnitudes to accelerate to the same final velocity within a given time. We say that an object that requires a greater force to accelerate to a certain velocity than another object, has a greater mass. According to the theory of relativity, moving at velocities close to the speed of light leads to an increase in the mass of an object. This is manifested by the increase in force required to achieve acceleration. At high velocities, infinite forces are required for small accelerations.
When we talk about the rest mass, it is acceptable to say that the mass of an object corresponds to the amount of matter it contains. This matter is under the influence of forces. On Earth, it is under the influence of (is accelerated by) gravity. The difference between mass and weight is best explained by this example: the “weight” of an object decreases as it moves away from the center of the Earth. Its mass remains the same because it is proportional to the force required for a given acceleration, and this is not affected by the position of that object.
The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of energy. Every object possesses immense energy even at rest. When an object moves, its mass increases. Relativistic mass refers to the mass that an object gains in a process in which a change in its energy also changes its mass. One gram of any substance contains 25 million kilowatt-hours of energy.
Mass is the amount of matter an object contains, and is also the amount of inertia. Gravity does not increase mass.
Matter is anything that has mass, i.e. anything that is not pure energy.
The law of conservation of matter does not apply in the case of splitting and fusion of atom nuclei.
Energy is the ability, or potential ability, to perform work. It can exist in several forms and be transformed from one form to another.
Entropy is a measure of randomness or the inability to perform work. Energy always changes from a usable to an unusable form in a closed system. Never the other way around. We say that the entropy of a closed system always increases.
Force is an external influence capable of altering the velocity of an object. In nature, there are four forces. Force is transmitted by virtual particles through all media, even through a vacuum.
Antimatter. This term also refers to material particles but with different properties. Matter and antimatter share properties such as mass and spin (the angular momentum of a microparticle due to its rotation about its internal axis). However, their charge and magnetic momentum are the same in magnitude but opposite in sign.
Radiation. Matter is radioactive and elementary particles will eventually, after many years, decay and transform into radiation. We can say that both radiation and matter have a dual nature, i.e. it consists of both waves and particles, whereby some phenomena arise from their wave nature, while other phenomena can be attributed to particle properties. Beams of electrons, atoms, and molecules have wave properties. All types of radiation (emission) spread at the speed of light. Radiation is the emission of waves or particles in regular pulses or wavelengths. Radiation is produced, detected, and classified according to its wavelength. Wavelength is inversely proportional to mass.
Light is emitted by atoms acting like electrical oscillators. A light ray is a geometric-physical representation of the propagation direction of the light wavefront. A wave is a periodic disturbance that transmits energy (even through a vacuum). A beam is a path along which given radiation travels.
A molecule is a combination of atoms bonded by chemical bonds and also represents the smallest part of a substance that retains the chemical properties of that substance.
Photon has no rest mass. Namely, it would have no mass at all if it were at rest in relation to the cosmos in general. However, it moves very quickly and therefore has an energy content. This energy content is equivalent to a certain amount of mass, but not a large one. The energy of 1,000,000,000 photons, expressed as a mass equivalent, is much smaller than the rest mass of a single proton.
Temperature is a measure of the speed of gas particles.
[1] Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle