The Duration Of Virtual Particles Viewed Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Davies & Gribbin (1992: 236, 252):

Quantum uncertainty allows a messenger particle to come into existence, fleetingly, so long as it soon disappears again. In quantum mechanics, uncertainty is a precise thing, and the energy of the short-lived quantum is determined by the duration of its existence, and vice versa — shorter-lived quanta can have more energy than longer-lived quanta, so that the product of energy and duration is always less than the limit set by the quantum rules. … 

Thanks to quantum uncertainty, virtual X particles can exist for a very brief duration (remember that the lifetime of a virtual particle is inversely proportional to its mass) and so they have only a very short range.

 

Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, this means that the duration of the instantiation of a virtual particle is inversely proportional to the mass of the particle, which is proportional to the ability of a process mediated by the particle to unfold. That is, the less potential mass and energy to be instantiated, the longer the duration of the instantiation.