How can particles pop in and out of existence

To the best understanding of the scientific community, it is impossible to use it. So beware of any opportunities you encounter that promise you a great return on an investment in a company that claims to exploit zero point energy.

The idea that space is a bubbling brew of ephemeral particles sounds like complete nonsense, but the idea has been confirmed. In , a physicist named Hendrik Casimir realized that if you placed two metal plates near each other, separated by a very small distance, the quantum foam would cause them to move.

To visualize this, remember that quantum particles are also waves. Between the plates, only waves particles with wavelengths smaller than the separation between the plates can exist. Outside the gap, waves particles of all wavelengths can exist. Thus there are more particles outside the gap than inside, and the imbalance pushes the two plates together. This effect has been observed. Another well-known manifestation of the quantum foam will be studied by Fermilab's proposed Muon g-2 experiment.

It is easy to calculate exactly what the strength of the muon magnet should be. When the magnetism of the muon was measured, it was found to be off from the prediction by 0. Physicists are able to calculate the effect of the quantum foam on the muon's magnetism, and it agrees with the theory to incredible precision, better than a part in a billion.

The same effect has been seen for electrons as well. This is one of the most precise measurements particle physicists have made and is excellent confirmation of the idea of the quantum foam. Another very good test some readers may want to look up, which we do not have space to describe here, is the Casimir effect, where forces between metal plates in empty space are modified by the presence of virtual particles.

Thus virtual particles are indeed real and have observable effects that physicists have devised ways of measuring. Their properties and consequences are well established and well understood consequences of quantum mechanics.

Sign up for our email newsletter. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science. Get smart. Sign Up. By Stephen Battersby.

Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum. The researchers simulated the frantic activity that goes on inside protons and neutrons. These particles provide almost all the mass of ordinary matter.

So what accounts for the rest of it? Theory says it is created by the force that binds quarks together, called the strong nuclear force.