Zero Point Energy doc
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| ZP OWER C ORPORATION PAGE OF 352 Z ERO P OINT E NERGY electromagnetic vibrations that do not have zero electric field at the position of the conducting plates. In effect, this cuts in "half" the "infinity" of electromagnetic vibrations allowed in the region of vacuum between the plates. The vacuum now has less energy than it did before the plates were introduced. This "negative energy" in the region of vacuum produces a force on the plates that pulls the plates together. A similar result is predicted when the plates are made of dielectrics instead of conductors. This attractive force can be quite large and has been accurately measured using dielectric plates. These experiments show that indeed, the vacuum does contain quantum mechanical zero temperature electromagnetic fluctuations. Experiments using conducting plates are more difficult and have yet to be done accurately. Such an experiment is at the top of the priority list in the body of the report. Another important experiment was the Lamb-Retherford experiment, where the frequency of microwave radiation emitted by an excited hydrogen atom was compared with theory. The theory only agreed with the experiments when the theorists assumed that the vacuum between the proton nucleus and the orbiting electron in the hydrogen atom had a tenuous plasma of positron- electron pairs in it, that shifted the electron orbital energy just the right amount to agree with experiment. Thus, this experiment shows that, indeed, the vacuum does contain quantum mechanical charged-particle pair fluctuations at zero temperature. There are many other experiments and phenomena that can only be explained by assuming that the quantum mechanical zero temperature electromagnetic fluctuations of the vacuum are real. Even such mundane phenomena as the surface tension of liquids and the clumping of smoke particles are explained by assuming that the vacuum contains residual electromagnetic fluctuations even at zero absolute temperature. Download 0.97 Mb. Share with your friends:
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