These are follow-up questions, and the questions posed are very much related to my previous subject thread: "A Third Way."
It's my understanding that certain types of subatomic virtual particles possess mass, such as fermions, electrons, positrons, etc... It's also my understanding virtual particles are no different than real particles - only that their existence in our universe is fleeting. Nevertheless, I gather there are circumstances (which includes special experiments that have been conducted) where the fleeting nature of virtual particles can be disentangled in such a manner that causes their fundamental nature to become permanent in our universe. I could be wrong on this point but I get the impression that the universe as it, how shall I put it... -quantum fluctuates- produces a LOT of virtual particles, this despite the fact that individually speaking their life spans are exceedingly short. Nevertheless this suggests that at any moment in time, the aggregate total mass of all of these virtual particles could turn out to be a LOT. This begs several questions... Could the aggregate total mass of all these virtual particles account for some of the dark matter detected in our universe? Better yet, has this premise already been questioned and pursued by scientists and physicists? Due to the fact that individual virtual particles exist ever-so briefly in our universe, they would NEVER EVER get the chance to clump up into physical objects like planets, stars, and such. The mass of virtual particles would just sort of suddenly hang around in certain areas of the universe and remain frustratingly undetectable. This has also let me to wonder whether r if "quantum fluctuations" DO vary in different areas of the universe, thus producing more virtual "mass" than in other areas... there would seem to be more "dark matter" detected in certain areas of the universe than in other areas. If so, what circumstances would produce an increase in quantum fluctuations in these areas of the universe. In conclusion, I'm speculat'in here that... state changes in various types of elements (and/or alloys) as they transition back and forth between crystalline solids and that of a liquid might also possibly account for an increase in certain kinds of quantum fluctuations, which in turn results in an increase in sub-atomic particle generation, as well as additional mass. Inquiring minds want to know. ;-) Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
