Re: [Phys-L] photons at rest

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

On 03/14/2013 09:14 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
>  I found ...., which makes (made) sense, and, furthermore, one may use  "argumentum ad verecundiam".  

I do not recommend argumentum ad verecundiam.
It's bad science and bad pedagogy.

In the case of photons at rest, as usual, I recommend 
	*argumentum ad calculationem igitur.*

That's Latin for "do the math already".

The math to calculate the mass of two photons in a box can
be done on half of a post-it note ... although it takes a
couple of pages to explain what the calculation means.
Some discussion, including a diagram, can be found at
  http://www.av8n.com/physics/spacetime-welcome.htm#sec-invariance-conservation
and
  http://www.av8n.com/physics/spacetime-welcome.htm#sec-photons-at-rest

As usual, the calculation is super-easy in terms of 4-vectors,
and well-nigh impossible otherwise.

I changed the subject line (was: photon rest mass) because
_there is no such thing as rest mass_  
There is mass, there is energy, and there is rest energy ... but 
there is no such thing as rest mass.