For articles related to vacuum energy, see Quantum vacuum (disambiguation).
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Vacuum energy is an underlying background energy that exists in space throughout the entire Universe.[1] The vacuum energy is a special case of zero-point energy that relates to the quantum vacuum.[2]
Unsolved problem in physics:
Why does the zero-point energy of the vacuum not cause a large cosmological constant? What cancels it out?
(more unsolved problems in physics)
The effects of vacuum energy can be experimentally observed in various phenomena such as spontaneous emission, the Casimir effect, and the Lamb shift, and are thought to influence the behavior of the Universe on cosmological scales. Using the upper limit of the cosmological constant, the vacuum energy of free space has been estimated to be 10−9 joules (10−2 ergs), or ~5 GeV per cubic meter.[3] However, in quantum electrodynamics, consistency with the principle of Lorentz covariance and with the magnitude of the Planck constant suggests a much larger value of 10113 joules per cubic meter. This huge discrepancy is known as the cosmological constant problem or, colloquially, the "vacuum catastrophe."[4]
^Battersby, Stephen. "It's confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations". New Scientist. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
^Scientific American. 1997. FOLLOW-UP: What is the 'zero-point energy' (or 'vacuum energy') in quantum physics? Is it really possible that we could harness this energy? – Scientific American. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/follow-up-what-is-the-zer/. [Accessed 27 September 2016].
^Sean Carroll, Sr Research Associate – Physics, California Institute of Technology, June 22, 2006C-SPAN broadcast of Cosmology at Yearly Kos Science Panel, Part 1
^Adler, Ronald J.; Casey, Brendan; Jacob, Ovid C. (1995). "Vacuum catastrophe: An elementary exposition of the cosmological constant problem". American Journal of Physics. 63 (7): 620–626. Bibcode:1995AmJPh..63..620A. doi:10.1119/1.17850. ISSN 0002-9505.
Vacuumenergy is an underlying background energy that exists in space throughout the entire Universe. The vacuumenergy is a special case of zero-point...
reached a more stable vacuum, this "bubble" (also called "bounce") would spread. A false vacuum exists at a local minimum of energy and is therefore not...
theory, the quantum vacuum state (also called the quantum vacuum or vacuum state) is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains...
Unsolved problem in physics: Why is the vacuumenergy density much smaller than a zero-point energy suggested by quantum field theory? (more unsolved...
dielectrics, alter the vacuum expectation value of the energy of the second-quantized electromagnetic field. Since the value of this energy depends on the shapes...
A vacuum (pl.: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective vacuus (neuter vacuum) meaning "vacant" or "void"...
More accurately, the vacuumenergy caused by the virtual particle pairs is pushing the plates together, and the vacuumenergy between the plates is too...
the existence of a vacuumenergy and a pressure of opposite sign. This has led to the terms "cosmological constant" and "vacuumenergy" being used interchangeably...
as the energy density of space, or vacuumenergy, that arises in quantum mechanics. It is closely associated with the concept of dark energy. Einstein...
include a background energy which pervades empty space, known as vacuum or zero-point energy. The ability to harness zero-point energy for useful work is...
space (which conceptually could be either positive or negative), or "vacuumenergy". The cosmological constant was first proposed by Einstein as a mechanism...
energy field. As the Heisenberg uncertainty principle implies that there is no such thing as an exact amount of energy in an exact location, vacuum fluctuations...
sign of the vacuumenergy depends on both the geometry and topology of the configuration. Being negative for parallel plates, the vacuumenergy is positive...
fluctuation (also known as a vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as...
releases too large an amount of energy and releases the energy on too short a time scale to be consistent with the vacuumenergy explanation, although other...
presently observed vacuumenergy density of the universe has also come under scientific study. As observed, the present vacuumenergy density is extremely...
Expanding vacuum state with high potential energy Phase transition to true vacuum Slow roll and reheating In quantum field theory, a vacuum state or vacuum is...
spacetime vacuum lacking vacuumenergy). Quantum mechanics heavily favors smaller fluctuations that "borrow" the least amount of energy from the vacuum. Typically...
The QED vacuum or quantum electrodynamic vacuum is the field-theoretic vacuum of quantum electrodynamics. It is the lowest energy state (the ground state)...
redshift and tethers spontaneously gain tension; if vacuumenergy is positive, the total vacuumenergy of the universe appears to spontaneously increase...
the vacuum expectation value (also called condensate or simply VEV) of an operator is its average or expectation value in the vacuum. The vacuum expectation...
semiconductor-vacuum interface (that is, the surface of a semiconductor), electron affinity, typically denoted by EEA or χ, is defined as the energy obtained...
Dirac sea is a theoretical model of the electron vacuum as an infinite sea of electrons with negative energy, now called positrons. It was first postulated...
caused by interactions between the virtual photons created through vacuumenergy fluctuations and the electron as it moves around the hydrogen nucleus...
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