Abstract
The concepts of the lifetime and path length of a virtual particle are introduced. It is shown that, near the mass surface of the real particle, these quantities constitute a 4-vector. At very high energies, the virtual particle can propagate over considerable (evenmacroscopic) distances. The formulas for the lifetime and path length of an ultrarelativistic virtual electron in the process of bremsstrahlung in the Coulomb field of a nucleus are obtained. The lifetime and path length of the virtual photon at its conversion into an electron-positron pair are discussed. The connection between the path length of the virtual particle and the coherence length (formation length) is analyzed.
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From Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 68, No. 3, 2005, pp. 553–556.
Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by V. L. Lyuboshitz, V. V. Lyuboshitz.
This article was submitted by the authors in English.
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Lyuboshitz, V.L., Lyuboshitz, V.V. Lifetime and path length of the virtual particle. Phys. Atom. Nuclei 68, 524–527 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1891204
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1891204