How does physics break down when you go smaller than plank’s length? Why cant you just go like half a plan’s length or a quarter of plank’s length?

Question

How does physics break down when you go smaller than plank’s length? Why cant you just go like half a plan’s length or a quarter of plank’s length?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Imagine a primitive computer screen made of low-resolution pixels. You can’t move Mario half a pixel, because the screen can’t represent that.

The real world might be a bit like that. Or it might not. It’s kind of hard to say when things are that small.

But in general, the sub-atomic world is more ‘chunky’ than ‘smooth’. For example, energy likes to travel in the form of photons. You can’t just cut a photon into smaller photons with less energy; they don’t break down like that.

(I’m not a physicist. Can you tell?)