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Infinities of Mass, Energy, & Velocity

Physics Asked by Steve DeHaven on January 14, 2021

My layman’s understanding is that photons are particles having 0 mass, which is why they are capable of moving at c (lightspeed). Does our current model of particle physics postulate the existence of particles having a) infinite mass but 0 energy and 0 volume? Would such particles be capable of only 0 velocity? Similarly, are there particles having b) infinite energy, c) infinite velocity, or d) infinite volume, but with corresponding zeros in their other properties? Might any of these be related to dark matter and/or dark energy? (I don’t see a tag for volume, so is volume even a meaningful property when discussing particle physics?)

One Answer

I shall attempt to answer your questions with some observations:

a) Mass and energy can be thought of as the same such that any object that has mass has energy. As such, an infinitely massive object would have infinite energy. Both cases result in a black hole, as do mass distributions with 0 volume.

b) See a)

c) Particles cannot have speeds greater than that of light.

d) Particles (as opposed to fields) cannot be infinite in volume. However, fields can be effectively infinite in volume. In quantum field theory, fields and particles are two sides of the same coin...

It has been considered that black holes of various sorts could be related to dark matter. (I would recommend looking through Quanta magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org/ to find out more about how black holes may contribute to dark matter.) Additionally, the ground state of fields has been considered as a possible source of dark energy. However, that leads to a clash between the vacuum energy as calculated by particle physicists and the experimentally determined value...

Answered by PrawwarP on January 14, 2021

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