What is an Electron Really?

From ChatGPT

This summary, the result of a little prompt-dialogue between ChatGPT and myself, seems as good an account as any other, and is consistent with Matt Strassler's book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea" .

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In the realm of classical physics, an electron is often conceived as a tiny, negatively charged particle orbiting the nucleus of an atom. However, modern physics, particularly Quantum Field Theory (QFT), offers a radically different perspective.

In QFT, an electron is not a point-like particle but rather a quantum excitation of an underlying entity known as the electron field. This field pervades all of space, and what we perceive as an electron is simply a localized disturbance or excitation within this field. This excitation carries certain properties—such as charge, spin, and mass—that we associate with the electron.

The electron's position is not definite until it is measured. Instead, the electron exists in a superposition of possible states, each corresponding to a different location. This superposition means that the electron doesn’t have a single, well-defined position but rather a range of probabilities (quantum amplitudes really) of being found in various locations.

When we incorporate the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics, this notion takes on an even more intriguing aspect. According to the MWI, each possible position of the electron corresponds to a different “world” or branch of reality. 

In one world, the electron might be detected at a particular point, while in another world, it appears somewhere else. These different worlds coexist in a vast multiverse which constitutes reality, and the electron’s delocalization can be understood as it existing in multiple worlds simultaneously, with each world realizing a different outcome of its position. Note that in each specific world, the electron is still an 'excitation of the electron field', a 'wavicle' according to Strassler.

This is a difficult ontology to imagine or believe, but it's the best we can do today.