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Comment by AnimalMuppet

3 years ago

Are gluons virtual? (Or are they virtual inside a proton?)

Your question is can be posed as “is there a well-behaved resonance of the gluon field in a proton, that lasts long enough for it to be identified”. It's kinda like identifying a bubble in a pot of cold water vs a pot just starting to boil vs a rolling boil.

Gluons are real.

  • Virtual particles are also "real", and if you don't believe me, at least you have to admit that virtual photons alone lead to real energy (e.g. Casimir effect) - and it has also been stated that gluons within protons can be interpreted as "virtual"... so I'm pretty sure your comment is wrong. I'd downvote you if I could since that seems to be what the cool kids here are doing but I used up all my karma telling the truth.

    • "Virtual particles are also "real"."

      No doubt, and Casimir is probably sufficient evidence, but it seems to me a lot of confusion would be saved if we changed the name.

      To what I don't know - perhaps something like say quantum energy disturbance but more eloquent or descriptive.

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