Quote:
Originally Posted by morls
I agree, it's amazing.
While I'm working may way through the Feynman lecture, might I pose a related question?
Are photons considered 'messenger' particles in quantum mechanics? If so, is it correct to take this to mean they transmit information?
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Hi Stephen,
The term "messenger particles" is used to describe a class of sub-atomic particles.
There are the four fundamental forces of nature, namely :-
* Gravity
* The weak force
* Electromagnetism
* The strong force
Messenger particles, what are termed "gauge bosons", bring about these
forces between other particles like protons, neutrons and so on. So they
act as intermediaries.
Gluons are in that class and they help "glue" atoms together.
Photons are also messenger particles which are associated with the
electromagnetic force.
The term "messenger" here is distinct from the word "information" when
it used in areas such as photonics.
That's about as much as I know but here is a wonderful introduction
to the topic of sub-atomic particles including messenger particles :-
https://www.britannica.com/science/subatomic-particle
As an electrical engineer, when engineer's use the term "information"
we are typically referring to the field of Information Theory which has
its footing in mathematics and statistics.
See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory
When physicists refer to "information" I believe they are generally
referring to "physical information" such as the state of a system, for
example, the state of a quantum system.
See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_information
There will be cross-over between the two in areas such as quantum
cryptography but as far as the field of study called "Information Theory"
goes it is essentially contained purely in mathematics without having
to refer to the physical world, despite it having immense practicality in
the modern technological world.