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Zero Point Energy and Vacuum Fluctuations Effects Ana Trakhtman Department of Physics Ariel University Center of  Samaria
Table of Content ,[object Object]
 Zero Point Energy – a new friend or an old acquaintance?
 Vacuum Fluctuations – what is it?
 Spontaneous Emission and what it has to do with ZPE
 Casimir Effect or Van der Waals Attraction
 The Lamb Shift
 The Beam Splitter
 Science Fiction or is it?
 Conclusion,[object Object]
Zero Point Energy The origin of zero-point energy is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. It is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have; it is the energy of its ground state.  The most famous such example of zero-point energy is 𝐸=12β„πœ” associated with the ground state of the quantum harmonic oscillator. It is the expectation value of the Hamiltonian of the system in the ground state. Β 
Zero Point Energy 𝐻=ℏ22π‘šΒ βˆ‡2+𝑉(π‘Ÿ,𝑑) 𝑍𝑃𝐸=𝐻=Ξ¨π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π»Ξ¨π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘ Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations In quantum field theory, the fabric of space is visualized as consisting of fields, with the field at every point in space and time being a quantum harmonic oscillator. The zero-point energy is again the expectation value of the Hamiltonian; here, however, the phrase vacuum expectation value is more commonly used, and the energy is called the vacuum energy. Vacuum energy can also be thought of in terms of virtual particles (also known as vacuum fluctuations) which are created and destroyed out of the vacuum. The concept of vacuum energy was derived from energy-time uncertainty principle.
Vacuum Fluctuations The vacuum state |π‘£π‘Žπ‘> of the field is the state of the lowest energy. The expectations values of both π‘Žπ‘˜π‘  and π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ + vanish in the vacuum state, because: π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ |π‘£π‘Žπ‘>Β =0=<π‘£π‘Žπ‘|π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ + Vector 𝐹(π‘Ÿ,𝑑), which may be the electric or magnetic or the vector potential, having a mode expansion of the general form: πΉπ‘Ÿ,𝑑=1𝐿32π‘˜,π‘ π‘™πœ”π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ πœ€π‘˜π‘ π‘’π‘–π‘˜βˆ™π‘Ÿβˆ’πœ”π‘‘+h.𝑐 Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations Where π‘™πœ” is some slowly varying function of frequency which is different for each field vector. Expectation value of πΉπ‘Ÿ,𝑑 in the vacuum state: <π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉπ‘Ÿ,π‘‘π‘£π‘Žπ‘>Β =0 However, the expectation of the square of the field operator does not vanish, as we will show soon. This implies that there are fluctuations of the em field, even in its lowest energy. Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations If we use the mode expansion and make use of the fact that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 We find that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2(π‘Ÿ,𝑑)π‘£π‘Žπ‘==1𝐿3π‘˜π‘ π‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘™πœ”π‘™βˆ—(πœ”β€²)π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘(πœ€π‘˜π‘ βˆ™πœ€π‘˜β€²π‘ β€²βˆ—)βˆ™π‘’π‘–[π‘˜βˆ’π‘˜β€²π‘Ÿβˆ’πœ”βˆ’πœ”β€²π‘‘] Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘‘,Β π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+(𝑑)=π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ’π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ =π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′ With the help of the commutation relation we have: π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π‘£π‘Žπ‘(π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′)π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′ Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations So that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2(π‘Ÿ,𝑑)π‘£π‘Žπ‘=1𝐿3π‘˜,π‘ π‘™πœ”2=2𝐿3π‘˜π‘™πœ”2  ⟢ 22πœ‹3π‘™πœ”2𝑑3π‘˜ This is clearly non-zero, and indeed is infinite for an unbounded set of modes. As it is know: π‘£π‘Žπ‘βˆ†πΉ2π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2π‘£π‘Žπ‘Β Β Β ,Β Β Β Β βˆ†πΉ=πΉβˆ’πΉ βˆ†πΉ – the deviation from the mean This shows us that the field fluctuates in the vacuum state. Β 
Vacuum Fluctuations The effects of vacuum energy can be 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.
Spontaneous Emission Quantum electrodynamics shows that spontaneous emission takes place because there is always some electromagnetic field present in the vicinity of an atom, even when a field is not applied. Like any other system with discretely quantized energy, the electromagnetic field has a zero-point energy. Quantum electrodynamics shows that there will always be some electromagnetic field vibrations present, of whatever frequency is required to induce the charge oscillations that cause the atom to radiate 'spontaneously'.
The Casimir Effect One of the more striking examples is the attractive force between a pair of parallel, uncharged, conducting plates in vacuum. This force is also referred to as a Van der Waals attraction and has been     calculated by Dutch physicists Hendrik B. G. Casimir and     Dirk Polder (1948).
The Casimir Effect One can account for this force (also known as Casimir force), and obtain an approximate value of its magnitude, by assuming that the force is a consequence of the separation-dependent vacuum field energy trapped between the two plates. If the plats are squares of side L and are separated by a distance z, we may suppose that the system constitutes a β€œcavity” that supports modes with wave number k down to about 1/z. the vacuum field energy trapped between the plates may therefore be written approximately as: π‘ˆ=π‘˜,𝑠12β„πœ”β‰ˆπΏ2𝑧1π‘§πΎβ„π‘π‘˜Β π‘˜2π‘‘π‘˜β‰ˆ14𝐿2ℏ𝑐𝑧𝐾4βˆ’1𝑧3=π‘ˆπ‘’π‘π‘π‘’π‘Ÿβˆ’π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿ Β 
The Casimir Effect we have introduced a high frequency cut-off K to make the energy finite. We can think of the negative rate of change of the lower cut-off energy π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿ with separation z as constituting a force of attraction, whose magnitude F per unit are is given by: 𝐹=βˆ’1𝐿2π‘‘π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘§~ℏ𝑐𝑧4 Β 
The Casimir Effect It is interesting to note from the structure of F that the force is proportional to ℏ and is therefore quantum mechanical. Because the strength of the force falls off rapidly with distance, it is only measurable when the distance between the objects is extremely small.  On a submicrometre scale, this force becomes so strong that it becomes the dominant force between uncharged conductors.  Β 
The Casimir Effect At separations of 10 nmβ€”about 100 times the typical size of an atomβ€”the Casimir effect produces the equivalent of 1 atmosphere of pressure (101.325 kPa), the precise value depending on surface geometry and other factors. In modern theoretical physics, the Casimir effect plays an important role in the chiral bag model of the nucleon; and in applied physics, it is significant in some aspects of emerging micro technologies and nanotechnologies.
The Lamb Shift The Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb (1913–2008), is a small difference in energy between two energy levels 2S1 / 2 and 2P1 / 2 of the hydrogen atom in quantum electrodynamics. According to Dirac, the 2S1 / 2 and 2P1 / 2 orbitals should have the same energies. However, the interaction between the electron and the vacuum causes a tiny energy shift on 2S1 / 2. Lamb and Robert Retherford measured this shift in 1947. Lamb won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 for his discoveries related to the Lamb shift.
The Lamb Shift
The Lamb Shift In 1948 Welton succeeded in accounting for the Lamb shift between the s and p energy levels of atomic hydrogen in terms of the perturbation of the electronic orbit brought about by vacuum fluctuations.  A perturbation π›Ώπ‘Ÿ in electronic position in general causes a change of potential energy 𝛿𝑉 given by: 𝛿𝑉=π‘‰π‘Ÿ+π›Ώπ‘Ÿβˆ’π‘‰π‘Ÿ=βˆ‡π‘‰βˆ™π›Ώπ‘Ÿ+12πœ•πœ•π‘Ÿπ‘–πœ•πœ•π‘Ÿπ‘—π‘‰π›Ώπ‘Ÿπ‘–π›Ώπ‘Ÿπ‘—+β‹― Β 
The Lamb Shift When we average this over the random displacements π‘Ÿ, the term in π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 is the leading non-zero term and we find that: 𝛿𝑉=16βˆ‡2π‘‰Β π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 In order to calculate the value of π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 resulting from the fluctuations of the vacuum field, we observe that, under the influence of an electric field πΈπœ” of frequency πœ”, the electronic position r obeys the equation of motion: π‘šπ‘Ÿ=βˆ’π‘’πΈπœ”cosπœ”π‘‘ Β 
The Lamb Shift And this results in a mean squared displacement about its equilibrium value of: π›Ώπ‘Ÿπœ”2=12𝑒2π‘š2πœ”4Β πΈπœ”2π‘£π‘Žπ‘=ℏ𝑒22πœ‹3πœ€0π‘š2𝑑3π‘˜πœ”3=ℏ𝑒22πœ‹2πœ€0π‘š2𝑐3πœ”0Ξ©π‘‘πœ”πœ” Β 
The Lamb Shift The integral diverges logarithmically at the upper end, and had to be provided with a cut-off Ξ©, which is usually chosen to be of order π‘šπ‘2/ℏ.  When this expression for π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 is inserted in 𝛿𝑉, and we average βˆ‡2𝑉(π‘Ÿ) over the electronic orbit with the help of the wave function πœ“(π‘Ÿ), we obtain finally for the perturbation of the atomic energy level: 𝛿𝑉=ℏ𝑒212πœ‹2πœ€0π‘š2𝑐3 𝑑3π‘ŸΒ βˆ‡2π‘‰π‘Ÿπœ“π‘Ÿ2πœ”0Ξ©π‘‘πœ”πœ” Β 
The Lamb Shift If we take the potential energy 𝑉(π‘Ÿ) to be: π‘‰π‘Ÿ=βˆ’π‘’24πœ‹πœ€0π‘ŸΒ   then:			βˆ‡2π‘‰π‘Ÿ=𝑒2πœ€0𝛿3(π‘Ÿ) and the volume integral reduces to: 𝑒2πœ€0πœ“02 Β 
The Lamb Shift This vanishes for a p-state but gives a finite value for an s-state.  The difference between the s and p energy levels is therefore: βˆ†πΈ=ℏ𝑒412πœ‹2πœ€02π‘š2𝑐3πœ“π‘ 02lnπ‘šπ‘2β„πœ”0 Β 
The Lamb Shift This leads to: βˆ†πΈβ„~1040 𝑀𝐻𝑧 For the 2s-state of hydrogen, and is in reasonable agreement with measurements by Lamb and Retherford (1947). Β 
The Beam Splitter
The Beam Splitter After decomposing all fields into plane-wave modes in the usual way, we consider a single incident mode labeled 1, which gives rise to a reflected mode 2 and a transmitted mode 3.  r, t are the complex amplitude reflectivity and transmissivity for light incident from one side. π‘Ÿβ€², 𝑑′ for light coming from the other side there are no losses in the beam splitter Β 
The Beam Splitter Then these parameters must obey the following reciprocity relations (due to Stokes, 1849): π‘Ÿ=π‘Ÿβ€²Β Β ,  𝑑=𝑑′ π‘Ÿ2+𝑑2=1 π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—+π‘Ÿβˆ—π‘‘=0 Β 
The Beam Splitter It follows that an incoming classical wave of complex amplitude 𝜐1 gives rise to a reflected wave 𝜐2, and a transmitted wave 𝜐3 such that: 𝑣2=π‘Ÿπ‘£1Β Β Β ,   𝑣3=𝑑𝑣1 From these relations it follows immediately that: 𝑣22+𝑣32=𝑑2+π‘Ÿ2𝑣12 So that the incoming energy is conserved. Β 
The Beam Splitter Now suppose that we wish to apply a similar argument to the treatment of a quantum field.  Then 𝑣1, 𝑣2, 𝑣3 have to be replaced by the complex amplitude operators π‘Ž1,Β π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3 , which obey the commutation relations: π‘Žπ‘—,Β π‘Žπ‘—+=1,  𝑗=1,Β 2,Β 3 π‘Ž2,Β π‘Ž3+=0 Β 
The Beam Splitter if we simply replace 𝑣1, 𝑣2, 𝑣3 by the operators π‘Ž1,Β π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3 , we readily find that the commutation equations do not hold for π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3. Instead we obtain: π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=π‘Ÿ2π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=π‘Ÿ2 π‘Ž3Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=𝑑2π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=𝑑2 π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ— Β 
The Beam Splitter The reason for the discrepancy is that we have ignored the fourth beam splitter input port, which is justifiably ignored in the classical treatment because no light enter that way. However, even if no energy is flowing through the mode labeled 0, in a quantized field treatment there is a vacuum field that enters here and contributes to the two output modes.

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Discover Zero Point Energy and Vacuum Fluctuations Effects

  • 1. Zero Point Energy and Vacuum Fluctuations Effects Ana Trakhtman Department of Physics Ariel University Center of Samaria
  • 2.
  • 3. Zero Point Energy – a new friend or an old acquaintance?
  • 4. Vacuum Fluctuations – what is it?
  • 5. Spontaneous Emission and what it has to do with ZPE
  • 6. Casimir Effect or Van der Waals Attraction
  • 7. The Lamb Shift
  • 8. The Beam Splitter
  • 10.
  • 11. Zero Point Energy The origin of zero-point energy is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. It is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have; it is the energy of its ground state. The most famous such example of zero-point energy is 𝐸=12β„πœ” associated with the ground state of the quantum harmonic oscillator. It is the expectation value of the Hamiltonian of the system in the ground state. Β 
  • 12. Zero Point Energy 𝐻=ℏ22π‘šΒ βˆ‡2+𝑉(π‘Ÿ,𝑑) 𝑍𝑃𝐸=𝐻=Ξ¨π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π»Ξ¨π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘ Β 
  • 13. Vacuum Fluctuations In quantum field theory, the fabric of space is visualized as consisting of fields, with the field at every point in space and time being a quantum harmonic oscillator. The zero-point energy is again the expectation value of the Hamiltonian; here, however, the phrase vacuum expectation value is more commonly used, and the energy is called the vacuum energy. Vacuum energy can also be thought of in terms of virtual particles (also known as vacuum fluctuations) which are created and destroyed out of the vacuum. The concept of vacuum energy was derived from energy-time uncertainty principle.
  • 14. Vacuum Fluctuations The vacuum state |π‘£π‘Žπ‘> of the field is the state of the lowest energy. The expectations values of both π‘Žπ‘˜π‘  and π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ + vanish in the vacuum state, because: π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ |π‘£π‘Žπ‘>Β =0=<π‘£π‘Žπ‘|π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ + Vector 𝐹(π‘Ÿ,𝑑), which may be the electric or magnetic or the vector potential, having a mode expansion of the general form: πΉπ‘Ÿ,𝑑=1𝐿32π‘˜,π‘ π‘™πœ”π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ πœ€π‘˜π‘ π‘’π‘–π‘˜βˆ™π‘Ÿβˆ’πœ”π‘‘+h.𝑐 Β 
  • 15. Vacuum Fluctuations Where π‘™πœ” is some slowly varying function of frequency which is different for each field vector. Expectation value of πΉπ‘Ÿ,𝑑 in the vacuum state: <π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉπ‘Ÿ,π‘‘π‘£π‘Žπ‘>Β =0 However, the expectation of the square of the field operator does not vanish, as we will show soon. This implies that there are fluctuations of the em field, even in its lowest energy. Β 
  • 16. Vacuum Fluctuations If we use the mode expansion and make use of the fact that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘£π‘Žπ‘=0 We find that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2(π‘Ÿ,𝑑)π‘£π‘Žπ‘==1𝐿3π‘˜π‘ π‘˜β€²π‘ β€²π‘™πœ”π‘™βˆ—(πœ”β€²)π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘(πœ€π‘˜π‘ βˆ™πœ€π‘˜β€²π‘ β€²βˆ—)βˆ™π‘’π‘–[π‘˜βˆ’π‘˜β€²π‘Ÿβˆ’πœ”βˆ’πœ”β€²π‘‘] Β 
  • 17. Vacuum Fluctuations π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘‘,Β π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+(𝑑)=π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ’π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ =π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′ With the help of the commutation relation we have: π‘£π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π‘£π‘Žπ‘(π‘Žπ‘˜β€²π‘ β€²+βˆ™π‘Žπ‘˜π‘ +π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′)π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π›Ώπ‘˜π‘˜β€²3𝛿𝑠𝑠′ Β 
  • 18. Vacuum Fluctuations So that: π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2(π‘Ÿ,𝑑)π‘£π‘Žπ‘=1𝐿3π‘˜,π‘ π‘™πœ”2=2𝐿3π‘˜π‘™πœ”2  ⟢ 22πœ‹3π‘™πœ”2𝑑3π‘˜ This is clearly non-zero, and indeed is infinite for an unbounded set of modes. As it is know: π‘£π‘Žπ‘βˆ†πΉ2π‘£π‘Žπ‘=π‘£π‘Žπ‘πΉ2π‘£π‘Žπ‘Β Β Β ,Β Β Β Β βˆ†πΉ=πΉβˆ’πΉ βˆ†πΉ – the deviation from the mean This shows us that the field fluctuates in the vacuum state. Β 
  • 19. Vacuum Fluctuations The effects of vacuum energy can be 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.
  • 20. Spontaneous Emission Quantum electrodynamics shows that spontaneous emission takes place because there is always some electromagnetic field present in the vicinity of an atom, even when a field is not applied. Like any other system with discretely quantized energy, the electromagnetic field has a zero-point energy. Quantum electrodynamics shows that there will always be some electromagnetic field vibrations present, of whatever frequency is required to induce the charge oscillations that cause the atom to radiate 'spontaneously'.
  • 21. The Casimir Effect One of the more striking examples is the attractive force between a pair of parallel, uncharged, conducting plates in vacuum. This force is also referred to as a Van der Waals attraction and has been calculated by Dutch physicists Hendrik B. G. Casimir and Dirk Polder (1948).
  • 22. The Casimir Effect One can account for this force (also known as Casimir force), and obtain an approximate value of its magnitude, by assuming that the force is a consequence of the separation-dependent vacuum field energy trapped between the two plates. If the plats are squares of side L and are separated by a distance z, we may suppose that the system constitutes a β€œcavity” that supports modes with wave number k down to about 1/z. the vacuum field energy trapped between the plates may therefore be written approximately as: π‘ˆ=π‘˜,𝑠12β„πœ”β‰ˆπΏ2𝑧1π‘§πΎβ„π‘π‘˜Β π‘˜2π‘‘π‘˜β‰ˆ14𝐿2ℏ𝑐𝑧𝐾4βˆ’1𝑧3=π‘ˆπ‘’π‘π‘π‘’π‘Ÿβˆ’π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿ Β 
  • 23. The Casimir Effect we have introduced a high frequency cut-off K to make the energy finite. We can think of the negative rate of change of the lower cut-off energy π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿ with separation z as constituting a force of attraction, whose magnitude F per unit are is given by: 𝐹=βˆ’1𝐿2π‘‘π‘ˆπ‘™π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘‘π‘§~ℏ𝑐𝑧4 Β 
  • 24. The Casimir Effect It is interesting to note from the structure of F that the force is proportional to ℏ and is therefore quantum mechanical. Because the strength of the force falls off rapidly with distance, it is only measurable when the distance between the objects is extremely small. On a submicrometre scale, this force becomes so strong that it becomes the dominant force between uncharged conductors. Β 
  • 25. The Casimir Effect At separations of 10 nmβ€”about 100 times the typical size of an atomβ€”the Casimir effect produces the equivalent of 1 atmosphere of pressure (101.325 kPa), the precise value depending on surface geometry and other factors. In modern theoretical physics, the Casimir effect plays an important role in the chiral bag model of the nucleon; and in applied physics, it is significant in some aspects of emerging micro technologies and nanotechnologies.
  • 26. The Lamb Shift The Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb (1913–2008), is a small difference in energy between two energy levels 2S1 / 2 and 2P1 / 2 of the hydrogen atom in quantum electrodynamics. According to Dirac, the 2S1 / 2 and 2P1 / 2 orbitals should have the same energies. However, the interaction between the electron and the vacuum causes a tiny energy shift on 2S1 / 2. Lamb and Robert Retherford measured this shift in 1947. Lamb won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 for his discoveries related to the Lamb shift.
  • 28. The Lamb Shift In 1948 Welton succeeded in accounting for the Lamb shift between the s and p energy levels of atomic hydrogen in terms of the perturbation of the electronic orbit brought about by vacuum fluctuations. A perturbation π›Ώπ‘Ÿ in electronic position in general causes a change of potential energy 𝛿𝑉 given by: 𝛿𝑉=π‘‰π‘Ÿ+π›Ώπ‘Ÿβˆ’π‘‰π‘Ÿ=βˆ‡π‘‰βˆ™π›Ώπ‘Ÿ+12πœ•πœ•π‘Ÿπ‘–πœ•πœ•π‘Ÿπ‘—π‘‰π›Ώπ‘Ÿπ‘–π›Ώπ‘Ÿπ‘—+β‹― Β 
  • 29. The Lamb Shift When we average this over the random displacements π‘Ÿ, the term in π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 is the leading non-zero term and we find that: 𝛿𝑉=16βˆ‡2π‘‰Β π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 In order to calculate the value of π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 resulting from the fluctuations of the vacuum field, we observe that, under the influence of an electric field πΈπœ” of frequency πœ”, the electronic position r obeys the equation of motion: π‘šπ‘Ÿ=βˆ’π‘’πΈπœ”cosπœ”π‘‘ Β 
  • 30. The Lamb Shift And this results in a mean squared displacement about its equilibrium value of: π›Ώπ‘Ÿπœ”2=12𝑒2π‘š2πœ”4Β πΈπœ”2π‘£π‘Žπ‘=ℏ𝑒22πœ‹3πœ€0π‘š2𝑑3π‘˜πœ”3=ℏ𝑒22πœ‹2πœ€0π‘š2𝑐3πœ”0Ξ©π‘‘πœ”πœ” Β 
  • 31. The Lamb Shift The integral diverges logarithmically at the upper end, and had to be provided with a cut-off Ξ©, which is usually chosen to be of order π‘šπ‘2/ℏ. When this expression for π›Ώπ‘Ÿ2 is inserted in 𝛿𝑉, and we average βˆ‡2𝑉(π‘Ÿ) over the electronic orbit with the help of the wave function πœ“(π‘Ÿ), we obtain finally for the perturbation of the atomic energy level: 𝛿𝑉=ℏ𝑒212πœ‹2πœ€0π‘š2𝑐3 𝑑3π‘ŸΒ βˆ‡2π‘‰π‘Ÿπœ“π‘Ÿ2πœ”0Ξ©π‘‘πœ”πœ” Β 
  • 32. The Lamb Shift If we take the potential energy 𝑉(π‘Ÿ) to be: π‘‰π‘Ÿ=βˆ’π‘’24πœ‹πœ€0π‘ŸΒ  then: βˆ‡2π‘‰π‘Ÿ=𝑒2πœ€0𝛿3(π‘Ÿ) and the volume integral reduces to: 𝑒2πœ€0πœ“02 Β 
  • 33. The Lamb Shift This vanishes for a p-state but gives a finite value for an s-state. The difference between the s and p energy levels is therefore: βˆ†πΈ=ℏ𝑒412πœ‹2πœ€02π‘š2𝑐3πœ“π‘ 02lnπ‘šπ‘2β„πœ”0 Β 
  • 34. The Lamb Shift This leads to: βˆ†πΈβ„~1040 𝑀𝐻𝑧 For the 2s-state of hydrogen, and is in reasonable agreement with measurements by Lamb and Retherford (1947). Β 
  • 36. The Beam Splitter After decomposing all fields into plane-wave modes in the usual way, we consider a single incident mode labeled 1, which gives rise to a reflected mode 2 and a transmitted mode 3. r, t are the complex amplitude reflectivity and transmissivity for light incident from one side. π‘Ÿβ€², 𝑑′ for light coming from the other side there are no losses in the beam splitter Β 
  • 37. The Beam Splitter Then these parameters must obey the following reciprocity relations (due to Stokes, 1849): π‘Ÿ=π‘Ÿβ€²Β Β ,  𝑑=𝑑′ π‘Ÿ2+𝑑2=1 π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—+π‘Ÿβˆ—π‘‘=0 Β 
  • 38. The Beam Splitter It follows that an incoming classical wave of complex amplitude 𝜐1 gives rise to a reflected wave 𝜐2, and a transmitted wave 𝜐3 such that: 𝑣2=π‘Ÿπ‘£1Β Β Β ,   𝑣3=𝑑𝑣1 From these relations it follows immediately that: 𝑣22+𝑣32=𝑑2+π‘Ÿ2𝑣12 So that the incoming energy is conserved. Β 
  • 39. The Beam Splitter Now suppose that we wish to apply a similar argument to the treatment of a quantum field. Then 𝑣1, 𝑣2, 𝑣3 have to be replaced by the complex amplitude operators π‘Ž1,Β π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3 , which obey the commutation relations: π‘Žπ‘—,Β π‘Žπ‘—+=1,  𝑗=1,Β 2,Β 3 π‘Ž2,Β π‘Ž3+=0 Β 
  • 40. The Beam Splitter if we simply replace 𝑣1, 𝑣2, 𝑣3 by the operators π‘Ž1,Β π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3 , we readily find that the commutation equations do not hold for π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3. Instead we obtain: π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=π‘Ÿ2π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=π‘Ÿ2 π‘Ž3Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=𝑑2π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=𝑑2 π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ— Β 
  • 41. The Beam Splitter The reason for the discrepancy is that we have ignored the fourth beam splitter input port, which is justifiably ignored in the classical treatment because no light enter that way. However, even if no energy is flowing through the mode labeled 0, in a quantized field treatment there is a vacuum field that enters here and contributes to the two output modes.
  • 42. The Beam Splitter Accordingly, we need to rewrite the commutation relations: π‘Ž2=π‘Ÿπ‘Ž1+π‘‘β€²π‘Ž0Β Β Β ;Β Β Β π‘Ž3=π‘‘π‘Ž1+π‘Ÿβ€²π‘Ž0 π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž2+=π‘Ÿ2π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1++𝑑2π‘Ž0Β ,Β π‘Ž0+=π‘Ÿ2+𝑑2=1 π‘Ž2Β ,Β π‘Ž3+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—π‘Ž1Β ,Β π‘Ž1+π‘Ÿβ€²βˆ—π‘‘β€²π‘Ž0Β ,Β π‘Ž0+=π‘Ÿπ‘‘βˆ—+π‘Ÿβ€²βˆ—π‘‘β€²=0 Β 
  • 43. Science Fiction or is it? As a scientific concept, the existence of zero point energy is not controversial although the ability to harness it is. Many claims exist of ''over unity devices'' (gadgets yielding a greater output than the required input for operation) driven by zero-point energy. Zero-point energy is not a thermal reservoir, and therefore does not suffer from the thermodynamic injunction against extracting energy from a lower temperature reservoir.
  • 44. Science Fiction or is it? In 1993 Cole and Puthoff published a thermodynamic analysis, ''Extracting energy and heat from the vacuum'' (see below), in which they concluded that ''extracting energy and heat from electromagnetic zero-point radiation via the use of the Casimir force'' is in principle possible without violating the laws of thermodynamics.
  • 45. Science Fiction or is it? A thought experiment for a device that readily demonstrates how the Casimir force could be put to use in principle was proposed by physicist Robert Forward in 1984 . A ''vacuum fluctuation battery'' could be constructed consisting of stacked conducting plates. Applying the same polarity charge to all the plates would yield a repulsive force between plates, thereby opposing the Casimir force which is acting to push the plates together. Adjusting the electrostatic force so as to permit the Casimir force to dominate will result in adding energy to the electric field between the plates, thereby converting zero-point energy to electric energy.
  • 46. Science Fiction or is it? In spite of the dubious nature of these claims (to date no such device has passed a rigorous, objective test), the concept of converting some amount of zero-point energy to usable energy cannot be ruled out in principle.
  • 47. Conclusion In all the examples above (not the science fiction part of course) we see that the vacuum field plays a fundamental role and is required for internal consistency. The vacuum has certain consequences in quantum electrodynamics that have no counterpart in the classical domain and it cannot be ignored.
  • 48. Bibliography β€œOptical Coherence and Quantum Optics” by Leonard Mandel and Emil Wolf β€œZero Point Energy and Zero Point Field” – Calphysics Institute Zero Point Energy and Vacuum Energy – Wikipedia General Interest Articles by Matt Visser, Victoria University of Wellington