1

I have come across the term renormalization in a physics book I am reading and i wish to know more about it.

Qmechanic
  • 220,844
user8839370
  • 71

1 Answers1

1

Renormalization can be used to ask how phenomena depend on what scale they are probed. The following does not represent a full description of renormalization, but is only meant to give you some intuition.

Firstly, higher energy scales correspond to shorter length scales (think of wavelength vs energy), so basically we ask what happens at different length scales.

Secondly, in the quantum world sometimes a virtual electron-positron pair can be created out of nothing, exist for a little while, and then annihilate each other again.

Now let's see what happens if I look at some naked electron at a distance. Between me and the electron, there are constantly electron-positron pairs created and annihilated, and they 'screen' the charge of the electron. However, if I go closer and closer to the electron, there will be less virtual pairs between us, and I can see the electron charge more clearly. As a result, the electron charge depends in a sense on the distance (and thus energy level) at which it has been probed.

This is a very naive view, but it is the best I could do on a high school level

RK1
  • 51