Something from Nothing? A Vacuum Can Yield Flashes of Light

A vacuum might seem like empty space, but scientists have discovered a new way to seemingly get something from that nothingness, such as light. And the finding could ultimately help scientists build incredibly powerful quantum computers or shed light on the earliest moments in the universe's history.

Quantum physics explains that there are limits to how precisely one can know the properties of the most basic units of matter—for instance, one can never absolutely know a particle's position and momentum at the same time. One bizarre consequence of this uncertainty is that a vacuum is never completely empty, but instead buzzes with so-called “virtual particles” that constantly wink into and out of existence.

These virtual particles often appear in pairs that near-instantaneously cancel themselves out. Still, before they vanish, they can have very real effects on their surroundings. For instance, photons—packets of light—can pop in and out of a vacuum. When two mirrors are placed facing each other in a vacuum, more virtual photons can exist around the outside of the mirrors than between them, generating a seemingly mysterious force that pushes the mirrors together.

Zero point energy!

Nothing we can detect, anyway.

The Casimir effect was proposed in 1948, and expermentally proven in 1996.

"One of the most interesting aspects of vacuum energy (with or without mirrors) is that, calculated in quantum field theory, it is infinite! To some, this finding implies that the vacuum of space could be an enormous source of energy--called "zero point energy." Steve K. Lamoreaux, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Energy is nothing?

Still doesn't sound like 'literally nothing."

COuld be. Zero point energy, in the quantum context, is the force exerted by "virtual particles." Virtual particles-it was put to me--don't actually exist, but show tendencies to exist. I gather they are created and decay within Planck time. Since Planck time (5 x 10E-44 s)is the smallest unit of time poosible, anything that happens within Planck time doesn't really happen.

Whether or not zero point energy is accessible to do work is another issue.

COuld be. Zero point energy, in the quantum context, is the force exerted by "virtual particles." Virtual particles-it was put to me--don't actually exist, but show tendencies to exist. I gather they are created and decay within Planck time. Since Planck time (5 x 10E-44 s)is the smallest unit of time poosible, anything that happens within Planck time doesn't really happen.

Whether or not zero point energy is accessible to do work is another issue.