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Photons are generally considered to be their own antiparticles: http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=27107 http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listi
by mchouza 12y ago
Photons are generally considered to be their own antiparticles: http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=27107 http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=27107
- chton 12y agoPhotons are something of a special case because they are massless. Gravitons, too. As bosons, their interactions are not limited by the Pauli exclusion principle, so they can not annihilate each other. They interact through different means (electromagnetic). They're both because they only have the common properties of particles and their antiparticles. It's basically like saying "the number 0 is its own negative number". It's correct according to some definitions, but not useful.
- tagrun 12y agoPhysicist here. You are confusing things. Having rest mass or Pauli-exclusion principle has nothing to do with qualification of being an anti-particle. Z boson, for instance, does have mass and is its own anti-particle. > It's basically like saying "the number 0 is its own negative number". It's correct according to some definitions, but not useful. Photons have zero charge; an anti-particle has negative of the particle's charge (and at the same time, same rest mass and spin).
- chton 12y agoAha, thanks for the correction, I must have picked up some bad info somewhere. I'll do my research better next time.
- wuliwong 12y agoI'd say that zero being it's own negative number is an important thing not to forget. :)