Cutting a photon in two creates an infinite swarm of particles

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-photon-infinite-swarm-particles.html

by HardwareLust • 2 months ago

4 9 2 months ago

phys.org

HardwareLust3• 2 months ago

Allegedly. I was disappointed to find out this is theoretical and they did not actually cut a photon in two.

pmdulaney2• 2 months ago

So the mass of the universe would suddenly become infinite?

HardwareLust3• 2 months ago

I thought photons didn't have any mass?

AnimalMuppet• 2 months ago

No. But they do have energy, and that creates gravity in general relativity (if I understand it correctly).

But also, you could have a Zeno's Paradox of particles - one with half the energy, one with 1/4th the energy, one with 1/8th...

pmdulaney2• 2 months ago

To be clear, I personally did think that electrons had a non-zero mass, so my bad.

maxerickson• 2 months ago

Do they even exist?

jfengel2• 2 months ago

No, that infinite swarm is in a superposition, so each photon contributes only an infinitesimal amount of energy. The net effect from a distance acts exactly like the original photon.

Assuming it could be done at all, which it can't. The article says "If you could do an impossible thing you'd get a strange result", which, duh.

HardwareLust3• 2 months ago

Wouldn't you need a tool that moves faster than the speed of light to cut a photon in half?

Cutting a photon in two creates an infinite swarm of particles

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