Is the Universe a quantum fluctuation?

[Cypress]

Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.

In quantum mechanics, there is no zero-energy state. There is only the lowest possible energy state of a system, its ground state. Now, if there is an inherent uncertainty in the energy of a system, then the energy of the ground state can fluctuate. If we call this ground state a quantum vacuum, it follows that the quantum vacuum always has some structure to it. There is no such thing as a true vacuum in the sense of complete emptiness. Quantum mechanics forbids nothingness.

If there are energy fluctuations in a quantum vacuum, very interesting things can happen. For example, the E = mc2 relation tells us that energy and matter are interconvertible. A vacuum energy fluctuation can be converted into particles of matter. Sounds weird? Maybe, but it happens all the time. These particles are called virtual particles, living a fleeting existence before plunging back into the ever-busy quantum vacuum.

Physicist Edward Tryon extrapolated the idea of quantum fluctuations to the Universe as a whole. He reasoned that if all that existed was a quantum vacuum, a bubble-like energy fluctuation out of this vacuum could have given rise to the Universe. Tryon proposed that the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.

Tryon’s proposal falls into the category of universes with a beginning, but created out of nothing. However, nothingness here, as well as in all the other examples of quantum-created universes that followed Tryon’s inspiring idea, must be understood in terms of quantum mechanical nothingness, and not from an absolute nothingness that translates to complete emptiness. In physics you simply cannot get something out of nothing. Creation ex nihilo is not the way of nature.

https://bigthink.com/13-8/universe-quantum-fluctuation/

 

[Tinkerpeach]

If quantum fluctuations exist that means Einsteins theory that humans cannot exceed the speed of light is wrong

His theory is predicated on the fact that all of space exists in a vacuum

Einstein really, really struggled with quantum mechanics and the few times he did debate it he turned out to be wrong

Especially on things like quantum entanglement which he said absolutely could not exist

He gets far more credit than he deserves, he was actually kind of a stubborn idiot who got lucky once

 

[Cypress]

If quantum fluctuations exist that means Einsteins theory that humans cannot exceed the speed of light is wrong

His theory is predicated on the fact that all of space exists in a vacuum

Einstein really, really struggled with quantum mechanics and the few times he did debate it he turned out to be wrong

Especially on things like quantum entanglement which he said absolutely could not exist

He gets far more credit than he deserves, he was actually kind of a stubborn idiot who got lucky once

I don't think vacuum energy has anything to do with violations of the speed of light.

Most scientists do their best work before age 40.

Einstein was hung up on the idea of determinism and thus lagged behind in the cutting edge thinking on quantum mechanics by the late 1920s and 30s.


Einstein didn't get lucky just once. He was the author of landmark ideas and papers on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and general relativity. Any one of those papers alone would have launched a scientist into the top tier of physics of the day.

 

[Tinkerpeach]

I don't think vacuum energy has anything to do with violations of the speed of light.

Most scientists do their best work before age 40.

Einstein was hung up on the idea of determinism and thus lagged behind in the cutting edge thinking on quantum mechanics by the late 1920s and 30s.


Einstein didn't get lucky just once. He was the author of landmark ideas and papers on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and general relativity. Any one of those papers alone would have launched a scientist into the top tier of physics of the day.

Well you are obviously extremely intelligent so I am sure you’ve studied his work on the general relativity theory which encompasses far more then just his famous equation

However since some people here might be interested in this but don’t know his work I am going to generalize

Einstein believed the universe was static and unchanging even though his equations were telling him different so he looked into it and couldn’t figure it out and this would ultimately lead to the birth of quantum physics

But these unknown variables threatened his theory of relativity so he came up with a new equation called the cosmological constant which simply says that there is a form of dark energy out there that would account for the flaws in his equation’s

He essentially just made this up on the spot with no proof whatsoever

Shortly after he published the theory of relativity the Shroedinger cat lesson came out which essentially says that if you put a cat in a box and put something in there to kill it that the cat is not alive or dead until you open the box and observe it

Einstein hated this lesson and went out of his way to debunk it because it showed that things happen in the universe that have no explanation and that negates most of his theories on relativity

I’m fact, most of Einsteins theories have been proven wrong and all he really ever did was produce one little mathematical equation

He was however a great self promoter and loved the fame he received but it is rumored that he didn’t even come up with that equation but that his wife did who was a schooled mathematician herself

 

[Cypress]

Well you are obviously extremely intelligent so I am sure you’ve studied his work on the general relativity theory which encompasses far more then just his famous equation

However since some people here might be interested in this but don’t know his work I am going to generalize

Einstein believed the universe was static and unchanging even though his equations were telling him different so he looked into it and couldn’t figure it out and this would ultimately lead to the birth of quantum physics

But these unknown variables threatened his theory of relativity so he came up with a new equation called the cosmological constant which simply says that there is a form of dark energy out there that would account for the flaws in his equation’s

He essentially just made this up on the spot with no proof whatsoever

Shortly after he published the theory of relativity the Shroedinger cat lesson came out which essentially says that if you put a cat in a box and put something in there to kill it that the cat is not alive or dead until you open the box and observe it

Einstein hated this lesson and went out of his way to debunk it because it showed that things happen in the universe that have no explanation and that negates most of his theories on relativity

I’m fact, most of Einsteins theories have been proven wrong and all he really ever did was produce one little mathematical equation

He was however a great self promoter and loved the fame he received but it is rumored that he didn’t even come up with that equation but that his wife did who was a schooled mathematician herself

I don't think I can have an intelligent discussion with someone who claims Einstein was overrated and only got lucky one time, Goat.

 

[AProudLefty]

Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.

In quantum mechanics, there is no zero-energy state. There is only the lowest possible energy state of a system, its ground state. Now, if there is an inherent uncertainty in the energy of a system, then the energy of the ground state can fluctuate. If we call this ground state a quantum vacuum, it follows that the quantum vacuum always has some structure to it. There is no such thing as a true vacuum in the sense of complete emptiness. Quantum mechanics forbids nothingness.

If there are energy fluctuations in a quantum vacuum, very interesting things can happen. For example, the E = mc2 relation tells us that energy and matter are interconvertible. A vacuum energy fluctuation can be converted into particles of matter. Sounds weird? Maybe, but it happens all the time. These particles are called virtual particles, living a fleeting existence before plunging back into the ever-busy quantum vacuum.

Physicist Edward Tryon extrapolated the idea of quantum fluctuations to the Universe as a whole. He reasoned that if all that existed was a quantum vacuum, a bubble-like energy fluctuation out of this vacuum could have given rise to the Universe. Tryon proposed that the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.

Tryon’s proposal falls into the category of universes with a beginning, but created out of nothing. However, nothingness here, as well as in all the other examples of quantum-created universes that followed Tryon’s inspiring idea, must be understood in terms of quantum mechanical nothingness, and not from an absolute nothingness that translates to complete emptiness. In physics you simply cannot get something out of nothing. Creation ex nihilo is not the way of nature.

https://bigthink.com/13-8/universe-quantum-fluctuation/

Yes and no.

 

[AProudLefty]

If quantum fluctuations exist that means Einsteins theory that humans cannot exceed the speed of light is wrong

His theory is predicated on the fact that all of space exists in a vacuum

Einstein really, really struggled with quantum mechanics and the few times he did debate it he turned out to be wrong

Especially on things like quantum entanglement which he said absolutely could not exist

He gets far more credit than he deserves, he was actually kind of a stubborn idiot who got lucky once

Your error is thinking in terms of sizes.

 

[Tinkerpeach]

I don't think I can have an intelligent discussion with someone who claims Einstein was overrated and only got lucky one time, Goat.

We’ll work on your communication skills and maybe you can get to a level to debate me

If you work hard enough you can do anything

 

[Guno צְבִי]

I don't think I can have an intelligent discussion with someone who claims Einstein was overrated and only got lucky one time, Goat.

She ? is very uneducated , better off trying to have a discussion with a house fly

 

[Tinkerpeach]

Your error is thinking in terms of sizes.

It’s not the size of the wand but the magic that’s in it

Typical small penis man excuse

 

[Cypress]

We’ll work on your communication skills and maybe you can get to a level to debate me

If you work hard enough you can do anything

When you start your first post by saying Einstein was overrated and only got lucky one single time, it means you haven't done the work to familiarize yourself with Einstein's research career

 

[Commander Dutch]

Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.....

https://bigthink.com/13-8/universe-quantum-fluctuation/

Possible. It could also be the Universe's greatest video game.

 

[Cypress]

Yes and no.

I'm not sure I buy it either, but it has some traction in the cosmology community.

One downside is that it seems to assume Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is eternal and must have somehow existed before the quantum fluctuation, since the fluctuations are a consequence of the uncertainty principle. . The assumption that natural laws are eternal and existed before time=0 creates another metaphysical chicken before the egg problem.

 

[Cypress]

Possible. It could also be the Universe's greatest video game.

It's not inconceivable we are living in a computer simulation

 

[Commander Dutch]

It's not inconceivable we are living in a computer simulation

Which may mean "it's the ride, not the destination" that matters.

 

[IBDaMann]

In quantum mechanics, there is no zero-energy state.

What is the quantum mechanics' statement for this? I don't think there is one.

There is only the lowest possible energy state of a system, its ground state.

What if that lowest energy state is zero? What if the lowest energy state is negative and the highest energy state is positive? If this ever were the case then the mean value theorem assures us that there is a zero energy state.

There is no such thing as a true vacuum in the sense of complete emptiness.

How do you know that there aren't countless patches of emptiness opening up every second between atoms, for example, or along imperceptible dimensions 34 through 57?

Quantum mechanics forbids nothingness.

What is the quantum mechanics' statement for this? I don't think there is one.

If there are energy fluctuations in a quantum vacuum, very interesting things can happen.

In reality, very interesting things can happen.

For example, the E = mc2 relation tells us that energy and matter are interconvertible.

Incorrect. The law of conservation of energy mandates that energy always be conserved and Einstein's energy-matter equivalence provides us with an equivalence we can use in that regard. Also, it shows us that things outside matter have mass. It does not state that electricity can be converted to matter, for example.

A vacuum energy fluctuation can be converted into particles of matter.

I'm not buying this. Do you have anything to offer in the way of verifying this?

Sounds weird? Maybe, but it happens all the time.

... or maybe it never happens because you are writing science fiction.

These particles are called virtual particles, living a fleeting existence before plunging back into the ever-busy quantum vacuum.

Aren't these what Captain Kirk used to detect the cloaked Romulan ship?

Physicist Edward Tryon extrapolated the idea of quantum fluctuations to the Universe as a whole.

Is he a member of the Writers Guild? Did he know Gene Rodennberry, by any chance?

In physics you simply cannot get something out of nothing. Creation ex nihilo is not the way of nature.

... unless nature and its laws are what are being created, in which case the creator (whatever that might be) is not confined to merely those laws.

Also, nobody has any concept of the nature of nothingness. There are no valid statements you can make about it.

 

[Tinkerpeach]

When you start your first post by saying Einstein was overrated and only got lucky one single time, it means you haven't done the work to familiarize yourself with Einstein's research career

He was overrated, most of his research has been proven wrong and that’s just a fact

 

[IBDaMann]

He was overrated, most of his research has been proven wrong and that’s just a fact

I hate to splash you with cold water, but this statement doesn't make sense. Research is not something that gets proven wrong. It's just research. Einstein's science has never been falsified.

Enjoy.

 

[Cypress]

He was overrated, most of his research has been proven wrong and that’s just a fact

Since you appear know almost nothing about the career and influence of Albert Einstein, I'll invest the time to dispel your ignorance

You claimed he got lucky and was known for only one thing.


He won a Nobel for demonstrating wave-particle duality.

He basically proved that atoms actually exist

He completely changed how we think about time and space, showing they are not uniform.

He showed that mass and energy are interchangeable

He completely changed our ideas about gravity and what causes it.


Any one of those accomplishments alone would have launched a physicist into the top tier of science

 

[Saint Guinefort]

He won a Nobel for demonstrating wave-particle duality.

I don't know if that is actually technically correct. He won his Nobel related to the Photoelectric Effect which helped establish quantum states, not necessarily wave-particle duality. His finding lead to the development of wave-particle duality as a concept, but if I am recalling correctly his was more related to the discrete energy levels (quanta).