If photons are the carrier particle of electromagnetism, why can’t we see magnetic fields with our eyes?

Question

If photons are the carrier particle of electromagnetism, why can’t we see magnetic fields with our eyes?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The photons that mediate the em field are virtual, they aren’t real. Any photon you ‘see’ is an excitation of the underlying field. Virtual particles arise from perturbation theory of QFT. They are just a math trick. A math trick that works very, very well.