I flicker in and out of being, leaving traces in detectors that seek my fleeting presence. What am I?

Category: Science · Difficulty: hard

Hint: Consider particles that exist only momentarily during interactions.

Answer

A virtual particle exchange

Explanation

Virtual particles are temporary fluctuations that mediate forces between actual particles at quantum scales.

This is a hard science riddle — a tricky one that takes a little thought. The answer is A virtual particle exchange.

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