leptons-
I think it is all "intermediate vector bosons"... or maybe I just like
the way that phrase sounds?
-boson
Thanks for all the answers. To answer John's question first, magnetism
doesn't seem miraculous (it's too familiar), but I can't say I
understand how it works. It was just that question about magnetism
that Feynman was asked as the start of the video
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMFPe-DwULM> in which he danced around
the question before saying he couldn't give an intuitive answer.
What would a satisfying answer look like? That's a very good question.
Superficially it would be something like a sophisticated version of
billiard balls: when one hits another, energy is transferred. But even
that doesn't work well when looked at carefully. What happens in
detail when one hits another. If the two objects were absolutely
solid, how would one "feel" the impact of the other. Would the
transfer simply become a primitive? If they were somewhat springy, how
does that springyness work? And besides, there must be some
surface-like thing that receives the impact and something more
internal that absorbs it.
Bruce's QM photon explanation is pretty close to what I'm looking for,
but as he notes, it only works for repulsive forces. It also relies on
primitives. In that case the emission and absorption of a photon and
the associated transfer of energy seem to be primitive actions.
The papers by Hobson look very interesting. They even look like I can
read them. I haven't done that yet, though.
As a software person, a good explanation is often something like an
API. How does one object interact with another? We know that objects
have capabilities (specified by their APIs), and that it's possible
for one object to trigger the performance of a capability in another
object. We don't ask how the triggering event gets from one to the
other. That's magic at a lower level. We just assume that it can
happen and that there isn't anything more to say about it at the
object level of abstraction.
So I would be (somewhat) happy with an answer that said (a) what the
capabilities are(something like a API for elementary particles/fields)
and (b) what the non-decomposable primitive actionsare, e.g., like
emit and absorb.
/-- Russ Abbott/
/_____________________________________________/
/ Professor, Computer Science/
/ California State University, Los Angeles/
/ My paper on how the Fed can fix the economy:
ssrn.com/abstract=1977688 <http://ssrn.com/abstract=1977688>/
/ Google voice: 747-/999-5105
Google+: plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/
<https://plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/>
/ vita: /sites.google.com/site/russabbott/
<http://sites.google.com/site/russabbott/>
CS Wiki <http://cs.calstatela.edu/wiki/> and the courses I teach
/_____________________________________________/
On Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 7:06 PM, John Kennison <jkenni...@clarku.edu
<mailto:jkenni...@clarku.edu>> wrote:
Russ,
Before people knew about magnetism, it must have seemed miraculous
that two stones would spontaneously start to move toward (or away
from) each other. Now we can say, "Oh, it's just magnetism". But
if we think about long enough, we may still wonder how two objects
can move toward or away from each other. My question would be,
"Does magnetism still seem a bit miraculous, or do you feel your
question is answered, at least for magnetism? In either case, what
would a satisfying answer look like?"
John
________________________________________
From: Friam [friam-boun...@redfish.com
<mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com>] on behalf of Russ Abbott
[russ.abb...@gmail.com <mailto:russ.abb...@gmail.com>]
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 1:50 PM
To: FRIAM
Subject: [FRIAM] How do forces work?
Yesterday I asked this
question<http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/61542/how-do-forces-work?noredirect=1#comment123788_61542>
on StackExchange: physics.
Is there a mechanistic-type explanation for how forces work? For
example, two electrons repel each other. How does that happen?
Other than saying that there are force fields that exert forces,
how does the electromagnetic force accomplish its effects. What is
the interface/link/connection between the force (field) and the
objects on which it acts. Or is all we can say is that it just
happens: it's a physics primitive?
So far, there haven't been any answers that feel
satisfying--although, please look at them yourselves. One of the
comments pointed to a 7 1/2 minute video by Feynman, in which he
talks around the problem before finally saying he can't provide an
intuitive explanation. I don't think it was one of his better
efforts. Does anyone on this list have an answer?
-- Russ Abbott
_____________________________________________
Professor, Computer Science
California State University, Los Angeles
My paper on how the Fed can fix the economy:
ssrn.com/abstract=1977688
<http://ssrn.com/abstract=1977688><http://ssrn.com/abstract=1977688>
Google voice: 747-999-5105 <tel:747-999-5105>
Google+: plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/
<http://plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/><https://plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/>
vita: sites.google.com/site/russabbott/
<http://sites.google.com/site/russabbott/><http://sites.google.com/site/russabbott/>
CS Wiki<http://cs.calstatela.edu/wiki/> and the courses I teach
_____________________________________________
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