Research sheds light on electron's structure

17 Jun 2002

According to recent measurements by Purdue University physicists, an electron may not be a simple negative point charge, as scientists often describe it. Professor of physics David Koltick says his research shows that the electromagnetic force from the electron, or its electronic strength, may increase toward the particle's central core.

According to his data, surrounding the electron's core is a fuzzy "cloud" of virtual particles, which wink in an out of existence in pairs -- one particle in the pair is positively charged, the other negatively charged. The pairs essentially cancel each other out so that they do not "add" any net electric charge to the electron, Koltick says, but the cloud plays a key role in how we perceive the electromagnetic force from the electron.

"The cloud of virtual particles acts like a screen or curtain that shields the true value of the central core," Koltick explains. "As we probe into the cloud, getting closer and closer to the core charge, we 'see' less of the shielding effect and more of the core. This means that the electromagnetic force from the electron as a whole is not constant, but rather gets stronger as we go through the cloud and get closer to the core. Koltick's results appear in the Jan. 20 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.