we were not discussing what binds atoms together now were we?
we were discussing mass , and how mass can not be finite.
Unfortunately those two things are linked you have accepted mass equivalence.
Even the universe at 0K has enoromous energy so long as there is still matter. Turn all the remaining matter into an atomic bomb and you will get some idea how much.
Heat is a trivial amount of the energy in the universe and that is the point you are missing do you know how much matter was converted in the atomic bombs on Japan?
we have shown that kinetic energy can be lost!
the fact that the atom absorbs the photon
and the atom also slows proves that kinetic energy was lost , not transfered , not converted , lost.
It was transferred Paul I had to create the laser light that took an incredible amount of energy and the energy the laser absorbed from the molecule it was cooling ends up as heat in the laser cavity.
So the kinetic energy was transfered to heat in the laser cavity and the whole process took far more energy than it removed from the molecules.
Thats why I couldn't cool the whole universe in this way it would take more energy than there is the universe to cool the universe and the heat from the laser cooling it would have to go somewhere.
There is no energy lost in laser cooling infact as with almost any process we do it is quite inefficient there is far more energy injected into the system than is used and there is quite alot of waste.
This why Bill S was asking you where the energy was going in laser cooling because it's important you realise the energy is specifically going somewhere even if you open end the laser at one end the energy absorbed from the molecule ends a photon in space so space inherits the energy absorbed it doesn't disappear.
That photon travelling thru space has energy and therefore via energy mass equivalence it has mass and nothing changed in the universe your molecule got a liitle colder and shed some mass your photon got some energy and gained mass but the mass of the universe remained EXACTLY THE SAME.
Follow the logic ... heat has to go somewhere whatever cools loses mass whatever took the heat away gains mass net result for the universe is no change in mass.
The only way the universe could lose mass is if it lost energy to something outside the universe and that was the argument Stephen hawking tried to maek with black holes even we can show that doesn't even work.
