Zero Point Energy

[elfstone]

Can anyone elaborate on what is known about it? Are there any implications for physics? I read somewhere that it could be an explanation for inertia. Could it be used as a source of energy?

[Phi for All]

Can anyone elaborate on what is known about it? Are there any implications for physics? I read somewhere that it could be an explanation for inertia. Could it be used as a source of energy?

From what I've read, ZPE is theoretical, based on Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, and says that the vacuum contains energy because anything warmer than absolute zero still has energy. Since the vacuum of space is far more vast than the matter of space, the energy field available from it is enormous. It should, more accurately, be called almost-zero-point energy.

 

Without being able to tap into multiple points in the vacuum simultaneously (perhaps this is what the fourth spatial dimension is for?), ZPE is useless to us as an energy source. I, too, would like to hear more about implications from a physics POV. elfstone, can you site a source on where you read about the inertia explanation?

 

If this thread starts to go down the use-the-Force-Luke-road, it will have to be moved to pseudoscience, so let's watch it.

[5614]

ZPE is the energy which an atom retains at absolute zero, although seeing as 3rd Law of Thermodyanamics say we can't reach absolute zero ZPE is theoretical.

[Syd]

Heh, every theory is theoretical.

There is an interesting thing, known as the Cassimir effect. When you put some very special plates into the vacuum, an unknown force will make them stick together. That force is supposed to be the Zero Point Energy. No matter Cassimir, I still don't believe that vacuum is full of Energy. What will left from vacuum if you drain all that energy? If E=mc2 it means that vacuum is full of material / so it’s not vacuum!/

[swansont]

From another point of view, if you solve Schroedinger's equation for a particle-in-a-box, and lt the box size get very large, you will end up with solutions that have the form of E_k=(n+1/2)hbar*omega_k where k is the vibrational mode and n is the number of photons in that mode.

 

Even when n = 0, however, there is an energy of (1/2)hbar*omega in each mode, and there are an infinite number of modes. And so, it is thought by some, an infinite amount of energy. But gaining access to that energy is a different matter.

 

One might be tempted to think that the infinity is just an artifact of the model, and that there's nothing there. But you can exclude some modes from existence, reducing the energy, and this requires that actual work be done. (Casimir effect) So clearly there's something there. But it doesn't behave as a reservoir that can be tapped.

[Johnny5]

Can anyone elaborate on what is known about it? Are there any implications for physics? I read somewhere that it could be an explanation for inertia. Could it be used as a source of energy?

 

That is one of many theories which attempt to explain inertia, but the math is too complex for it to make sense.

 

Calphysics ZPE

[Severian]

I feel I should point out that in quantum mechanics one can only measure differences in energy, not absolute values. So zero-point energy in the sense of the harmonic oscillator doesn't really mean much. However, GR does give us a distinction since this energy 'should' curve space-time. Since we don't have a quantum theory of gravity this inconsistancey is as yet unresolved.

 

As for inertia, do you mean inertial mass? Inertial mass is explained using the vacuum by the (as yet unverified) Higgs mechanism. The key here is that vacuum is not the usual shape and the minimum energy configuraton (so the ground state) has a non-zero field configuration. This means that everywhere in the universe there will be fields which are non-zero and couple to ordinary matter (they have isospin) and this is what provides the mass (basically this extra non-zero field provides a route for left handed particles and right handed particles to mix with one another).

 

The Higgs mechanism is explained in a very non-scientific hand wavy way here: http://hepwww.ph.qmw.ac.uk/epp/higgs.html