36 Facts About Zero-point energy

Notion of a zero-point energy is important for cosmology, and physics currently lacks a full theoretical model for understanding zero-point energy in this context; in particular, the discrepancy between theorized and observed vacuum energy in the universe is a source of major contention.

Term zero-point energy is a translation from the German Nullpunktsenergie.

In quantum field theory this combination of fields is called the vacuum state, its associated zero-point energy is called the vacuum energy and the average energy value is called the vacuum expectation value called its condensate.

The random motion corresponding to this zero-point energy never vanishes; it is a consequence of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

Idea that "empty" space can have an intrinsic Zero-point energy associated to it, and that there is no such thing as a "true vacuum" is seemingly unintuitive.

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For many practical calculations zero-point energy is dismissed by fiat in the mathematical model as a term that has no physical effect.

The discovery of dark energy is best explained by zero-point energy, though it still remains a mystery as to why the value appears to be so small compared to the huge value obtained through theory - the cosmological constant problem.

Many physical effects attributed to zero-point energy have been experimentally verified, such as spontaneous emission, Casimir force, Lamb shift, magnetic moment of the electron and Delbruck scattering.

Zero-point energy believed this concept violated basic physical principles and asserted that the elements of fire, air, earth, and water were not made of atoms, but were continuous.

The zero-point energy makes no contribution to Planck's original law, as its existence was unknown to Planck in 1900.

Concept of zero-point energy was developed by Max Planck in Germany in 1911 as a corrective term added to a zero-grounded formula developed in his original quantum theory in 1900.

Soon, the idea of zero-point energy attracted the attention of Albert Einstein and his assistant Otto Stern.

In 1913 they published a paper that attempted to prove the existence of zero-point energy by calculating the specific heat of hydrogen gas and compared it with the experimental data.

Zero-point energy was able to obtain the same fluctuation formula that Einstein had obtained in 1909.

However, Jordan did not think that his infinite zero-point energy term was "real", writing to Einstein that "it is just a quantity of the calculation having no direct physical meaning".

In Wolfgang Pauli's 1945 Nobel lecture he made clear his opposition to the idea of zero-point energy stating "It is clear that this zero-point energy has no physical reality".

Zero-point energy then asked himself what would happen if there were two mirrors – rather than two molecules – facing each other in a vacuum.

Zero-point energy is fundamentally related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

In ordinary atomic physics, the zero-point energy is the energy associated with the ground state of the system.

In quantum mechanical terms, the zero-point energy is the expectation value of the Hamiltonian of the system in the ground state.

In cosmology, the vacuum Zero-point energy is one possible explanation for the cosmological constant and the source of dark Zero-point energy.

Quantum mechanics requires the Zero-point energy to be large as Paul Dirac claimed it is, like a sea of Zero-point energy.

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle allows the Zero-point energy to be as large as needed to promote quantum actions for a brief moment of time, even if the average Zero-point energy is small enough to satisfy relativity and flat space.

Since zero-point energy is intimately connected to the non-commutativity of and, the normal ordering procedure eliminates any contribution from the zero-point field.

The zero-point energy cannot be eliminated by dropping its energy from the Hamiltonian: When we do this and solve the Heisenberg equation for a field operator, we must include the vacuum field, which is the homogeneous part of the solution for the field operator.

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We showed in the above section that the zero-point energy can be eliminated from the Hamiltonian by the normal ordering prescription.

The vacuum Zero-point energy contains contributions from all wavelengths, except those excluded by the spacing between plates.

The decrease in Zero-point energy means there must be a force doing work on the plates as they move.

The quantum fluctuations caused by zero-point energy have the effect of screening electric charges: owing to electron-positron pair production, the charge of the particle measured far from the particle is far smaller than the charge measured when close to it.

The renormalization procedure of eliminating zero-point energy infinities allows the choice of an arbitrary energy scale for defining.

In general relativity, mass and Zero-point energy are equivalent; both produce a gravitational field and therefore the theorized vacuum Zero-point energy of quantum field theory should have led to the universe ripping itself to pieces.

Mechanism for inflation is unclear, it is similar in effect to dark Zero-point energy but is a far more energetic and short lived process.

Idea that the vacuum Zero-point energy can have multiple stable Zero-point energy states is a leading hypothesis for the cause of cosmic inflation.

That humanity might alter the morphology of the vacuum Zero-point energy to create an Zero-point energy gradient for useful work is the subject of much controversy.

Nevertheless, the allure of free Zero-point energy has motivated such research, usually falling in the category of fringe science.

Common assumption is that the Casimir force is of little practical use; the argument is made that the only way to actually gain Zero-point energy from the two plates is to allow them to come together, and therefore it is a one-use-only tiny force in nature.