system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Where does the energy for exchange particles come from?

The weak interaction uses a W boson to transfer momentum, but it's much heavier than a proton and seemingly spontaneously comes into existence for the purpose of the interaction and then vanishes. I'd like to know how this complys with the conservation of energy because it doesn't really make sense to me.
gpt
You are correct. If you interpret virtual particles as things that literally exist, you are led to nonsensical conclusions.

The mass of a W boson is much too large for a real one to be produced during beta decay of a nucleus.

Virtual particles don't literally exist; they are just an artifact of certain calculation methods in quantum field theory.