- #1
nitsuj
- 1,389
- 98
told so in another thread that two photons traveling in opposite directions "have mass". I understood the concept of centre of momentum, an inertial frame of reference and rest mass. My cynical reply wasn't conveyed and I got well thought out and accurate replies.
the COM is an idealized point, and this couldn't physically be better demonstrated than with things going c in opposing directions and calculating a com and in turn a "mass"...at most I'd call that a region of space with x amount of energy. However not even remotely something identifiable as a mass.
So how is understanding the two photon system as being massive not equivalent to saying relative motion increases mass...
First thought for me is causally how can this be true in practice. Maybe too poetic but, isn't a photon gone forever...
the COM is an idealized point, and this couldn't physically be better demonstrated than with things going c in opposing directions and calculating a com and in turn a "mass"...at most I'd call that a region of space with x amount of energy. However not even remotely something identifiable as a mass.
So how is understanding the two photon system as being massive not equivalent to saying relative motion increases mass...
First thought for me is causally how can this be true in practice. Maybe too poetic but, isn't a photon gone forever...