In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (or vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as prescribed by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. They are tiny random fluctuations in the values of the fields which represent elementary particles, such as electric and magnetic fields which represent the electromagnetic force carried by photons, W and Z fields which carry the weak force, and gluon fields which carry the strong force. Vacuum fluctuations appear as virtual particles, which are always created in particle-antiparticle pairs. Since they are created spontaneously without a source of energy, vacuum fluctuations and virtual particles are said to violate the conservation of energy. This is theoretically allowable because the particles annihilate each other within a time limit determined by the uncertainty principle so they are not directly observable. The uncertainty principle states the uncertainty in energy and time can be related by
Δ
E
Δ
t
≥
1
2
ℏ
{\displaystyle \Delta E\,\Delta t\geq {\tfrac {1}{2}}\hbar ~}
, where 1/2ħ ≈ 5,27286×10−35 Js. This means that pairs of virtual particles with energy
Δ
E
{\displaystyle \Delta E}
and lifetime shorter than
Δ
t
{\displaystyle \Delta t}
are continually created and annihilated in empty space. Although the particles are not directly detectable, the cumulative effects of these particles are measurable. For example, without quantum fluctuations the "bare" mass and charge of elementary particles would be infinite; from renormalization theory the shielding effect of the cloud of virtual particles is responsible for the finite mass and charge of elementary particles. Another consequence is the Casimir effect. One of the first observations which was evidence for vacuum fluctuations was the Lamb shift in hydrogen. In July 2020 scientists report that they, for the first time, measured that quantum vacuum fluctuations can influence the motion of macroscopic, human-scale objects by measuring correlations below the standard quantum limit between the position/momentum uncertainty of the mirrors of LIGO and the photon number/phase uncertainty of light that they reflect.
Some physicists are giving up on physical particles and talking about quantum fluctuations in a vacuum.
So, what exactly is a quantum fluctuation in a vacuum?
There is a new theory being put forth that gravity may amplify vacuum energy to the point that the amplified vacuum energy may predominate over classical vacuum energy, which would cause it to influence astrophysical processes:
http://www.physorg.com/news193330592.html
It's just a...
http://www.physorg.com/news193330592.html
In the above article, a mechanism is suggested whereby a massive body gains mass from quantum fluctuations.
This seems to contradict Hawking Radiation, where interaction with virtual particles result in a (very) massive body radiating away energy!
Why...
Hi! I'm not sure if my post is in the correct sub-forum, but I think 'Quantum Physics' will result in more detailed answers..
I'm not a physicist, I'm a mathematician and don't know too much about Quantum Theory, just the basics. I've read some stuffs about the issue, introdutory books, this...
It is my understanding that quantum fluctuations arise from implications of the Uncertainty Principle. Specifically:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/b/d/1/bd1bb25a5159f9c74803afca6ad65935.png
And that this means that conservation of energy can appear to be violated for a set time "T."...
Im trying to understand inflation, specially the part of structure formation, so I am following Mukhanov's Book. There he does an analysis on quantum fluctuations, more specifically he quantize the Newtonian potential and finds the power spectrum and turns out to be scale invariant. I kind of...
I'm just confused on this point. The Uncertainty Principle states that there is always a minimum of uncertainty on small scales, leading to quantum fluctuations. However, can we say that quantum fluctuations of spacetime are quantum fluctuations of energy or are they different?
Brian Greene in "The Fabric of the Cosmos" gives the above three as indirect, universal fields in which we exist but have not yet directly detected. Could they be mathematically interlinked among themselves or with immediately observable phenomena?
Hey guys!
As of lately, I've indulged deeply into the entire affair of Quantum Mechanics, field theories and the like, all in an attempt to comprehend how the universe came out to be, what caused it, and what is it's ultimate fate.
Despite my sincere efforts, and after reading plenty of...