Here, sigidunum@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> Is it possible to destroy electrons by any means other than
> annihilation with an oppositely-charged particle?
>
> I'm thinking in particular of mechanical means -- pressure, tidal
> forces, what have you -- but is there anything?
It's not going to crack under a well-placed chisel, if that's what you
mean.
There are various nuclear reactions that an electron can undergo.
Hitting a positron is the obvious one. Combining with a proton (under
extremely high pressures, see "neutron star") to form a neutron is
another; that's not generally called "annihilation". (I think more
stuff is involved in that one, like a neutrino.) There are probably
other reactions.
In general, any sufficiently messy part of the universe -- that is,
high-energy conditions -- will have virtual particles flying around
reacting with everything. Positron-electron pairs are one example. So
an electron in those conditions will be messed with in short order.
You could call high-energy conditions "mechanical stress". Like, near
a small black hole which is blasting out lots of Hawking radiation.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
*
If the Bush administration hasn't thrown you in military prison without
trial,
it's for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because you're
patriotic.
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