News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Antiproton Orbiting Helium Ion. Parent comment

Re:Antiproton Orbiting Helium Ion by TobTobXX on Wednesday March 16, 2022 @01:33PM (#30701669)
Not too literate in this, but I'd say that the mass of a proton is large enough so that quantum effects (such as the quantization of of energy) become less relevant than classical mechanics (which lets the antiproton get pulled toward the proton).

Correct me if I'm wrong though.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Antiproton Orbiting Helium Ion by tsimionescu on Wednesday March 16, 2022 @04:53PM (#30703934)
You're wrong. Mass has nothing to do (as much as is known at this time) with quantum effects being important or not. Quantum mechanics would (as far as we know) work the same for a 1kg particle as they do for a 1eV particle.

Instead, the difference is that the antiproton can interact with a proton and annihilate, while an electron can barely interact with a proton or neutron outside of the EM attraction.

[ Parent | on HN ]