S4F: I Have Virtually Nothing to Say About Zero-Point Energy
by David Siegel Bernstein, PhD
This month I have two more quantum phenomena you may want to use in your fiction: virtual particles and zero-point energy. And guess what–they both owe their existence to our old friend the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
Recall from last month’s post (If You are Uncertain—Call a Quantum Mechanic for a Fix), the uncertainty principle states the more precisely you measure the position of a moving particle, the less exact your measurement of its momentum, and vice versa. This uncertainty is not from flaws in measurement, but from quantum fuzziness due to the wave nature of particles.
Let’s make things quantum weirder by bringing time and energy into our discussion. Because they are both functions of wavelengths (the cause of all things fuzzy) their measurements have uncertainties, and like momentum and position, these two uncertainties can’t be reduced to zero simultaneously. It is these uncertainties that give rise to virtual particles and zero-point energy which in turn gives us fiction writers more fertile ground for planting techno speak in our stories.
I. Virtual Particles
Virtual particles are little some things that are allowed to arise from nothing so long as they promise to return back to nothing after a duration too quick to be observed. These virtual particles permeate all of space, doing some very helpful things such as regulating particle decay and mediating the exchange of forces between particles.
For example, when two negatively charged electrons repulse each other, they are exchanging virtual photons. These virtual particles are little messages saying: Hey you, back off! Because these virtual photons exist only for a short time, they can’t travel very far, unlike lower-energy photons (let there be light). This explains why the electric force is stronger at short distances. In fact, all the basic forces diminish with distance for this reason. There is the caveat that although gravity also diminishes with distance, physicists have yet to reconcile this force with quantum mechanics.
II. Zero-Point Energy
Thanks to those pesky virtual particles, action is happening at every point in space and time–everything, everywhere, oscillates. The energy from all the quivering is called zero-point energy which–by the way–is always nonzero.
The best-known experimental evidence of zero-point energy is called the Casimir effect. The Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir predicted that a dense metal plate in a vacuum (the unlikeliest place to find energy) would be bombarded on both sides by virtual particles. If you put two such plates very very (and by very very, I mean really really) close there won’t be enough space between them for larger virtual particles to pop into existence. Because the vacuum pressure is now less between the plates than on their outer surfaces they experience a net force pushing them together; energy in a vacuum–zero-point energy.
How can we take advantage of virtual particles and zero-point energy when writing science fiction? They are both everywhere and will never run out (until the heat death of the universe). If they could be harnessed, imagine how advantageous that would be for colonization, war, etc. Just as a caveat, remember zero-point energy is already the lowest possible energy of a system so you have to be a savvy science fiction writer to come up with a way of extracting it without using up more energy than you get out. According to physicists, extracting this energy is unlikely, but not to the creative fiction writer!
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Authors: David Siegel Bernstein. Form: Column. Length: 500 words. Editor who accepted this story: Previous Editors.
Author Bio
Abandoned Towers Content: S4F: Go Kardashev not Kardashian for Your Science S4F: Black Holes (Don’t Really) Suck S4F: Black Holes Suck S4F: Can Anyone Intelligent Communicate with Me? Other Than My Earthling Friends. Part II S4F: Can Anyone Intelligent Communicate with Me? Other Than My Earthling Friends. S4F: Do You Know the Time? S4F: Do You Know the Time? Part II S4F: Do You Know the Time? Part III S4F: Fiction by the Numbers S4F: From Higgs to Holograms S4F: Getting More Entangled In Time and Space S4F: I Have Virtually Nothing to Say About Zero-Point Energy S4F: If You are Uncertain—Call a Quantum Mechanic for a Fix S4F: Infinity for Fun S4F: Infinity of Fun, Part II S4F: Invisibility, Science not Magic S4F: Meet David Siegel Bernstein – Forensic Statistician S4F: More or Less Human S4F: Much Ado About Nothing This Month S4F: Now Playing at the Opera—The Faster than Light Particle Experiment S4F: Paradox Found S4F: Paradox Lost S4F: Parallel Worlds S4F: Splicing Science from Fiction S4F: The End of Infinity (Infinity of Fun Part III) S4F: We Hold Universal Truths to Be Not Self-Evident S4F: What’s the Matter with Antimatter?
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March 8th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Interesting article!
Stealth is easier than cloaking, and we already have the technology.
March 30th, 2012 at 7:41 am
William you are absolutely correct. Invisibility (a descendant of Stealth) is not only easier to achieve, but a future topic. I thought I’d go over invisibility first to please those who enjoy Harry Potter, but want to write hard science fiction.
April 5th, 2012 at 5:39 am
Fascinating post. We are so much empty space and mostly water. Amazing to think how we can be beings of intelligence and creativity.