Macroscopic Virtual Particles Exist

Abstract

Virtual particles expected to occur in microscopic processes as they are introduced, for instance by Feynman in the Quantum Electro Dynamics, as photons performing in an anonymous way in the interaction between two electrons. This note describes macroscopic virtual particles as they appear in classical evanescent modes and in quantum mechanical tunneling particles. Remarkably, these large virtual particles are present in wave mechanics of elastic, electromagnetic, and Schrödinger fields.

17 pages, 5 figures