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Photon existence


lemur

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It is easy to think of photons as being independent particles for two reasons, imo: 1) they are fundamental packets/quanta of energy 2) their sources and destinations can be measured as very distant.

 

But does it really make sense to say that photons exist independently of their sources and destinations? I.e. when a photon leaves one electron en route for another, does it really have a life/existence except as a conduit of energy-transfer between its source and destination? Could photons be just as well described as moments of connection between seemingly distant electrons? Would this idea fit with the idea of quantum tunneling and unlimited possibility for electron-emergence within a probability distribution? In other words, could photons simply be electromagnetic force that tunnels infinite distance through conduits of gravitational geodesic paths?

 

When I think of a particle with mass, I think of it being able to break away from other particles in a configuration and behave as a free particle before re-configuring into another situation. Photons, on the other hand, seem to just propagate themselves from their own force like a chain-reaction of shadows, if such a thing was possible. In other words, they don't seem to have an existence independent of the propagation of force to transmit energy between particles with mass. I don't know if this could also be said about, say, an electron when it breaks away in an ionization process. Does it then just behave as a linear propagation of negative charge until it reaches a positive charge? Or can an electron have a life of its own, bouncing around among particles until it gets integrated into a new atom/molecule?

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