Jim Baggott is a science writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is co-author with John Heilbron of Quantum Drama. Quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily successful scientific theory, on which ...

It forces some physicists to ask: Can a mathematical tool become real? Virtual particles are the tool that physicists use to ...

Scientists imagine virtual particles popping in and out of existence to explain how forces transfer between particles. koto_feja/iStock via Getty Images A clever mathematical tool known as virtual ...