Beneath Deep Space

Chapter 54 Vacuum Zero Point Energy

Quantum theory, one of the two cornerstones of modern physics, is called the science closest to God.

Quantum theory predicts that there is huge background energy in the vacuum, which still exists under absolute zero conditions. The energy therein is called vacuum zero point energy.

The idea of ​​zero point energy comes from a famous concept in quantum mechanics: Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

This principle states that it is impossible to know the position and momentum of a particle simultaneously with high accuracy. Therefore, when the temperature drops to absolute zero, the particles must still be vibrating. Otherwise, if the particle comes to a complete stop, its momentum and position can be measured accurately at the same time, which violates the uncertainty principle.

The energy of this particle's vibration at absolute zero (zero-point vibration) is zero-point energy.

Therefore, the vacuum zero-point energy mentioned by Dr. Rimbaud is like this. In fact, humans can also use this energy to a small extent, which is the Casimir effect.

In 1948, Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir proposed a plan to detect the presence of this energy. Theoretically, vacuum energy appears in the form of particles, which constantly form and disappear on a tiny scale (called quantum fluctuations).

Under normal circumstances, a vacuum is filled with particles of almost every wavelength, and Casimir thought that if two thin disks of uncharged metal were brought tightly together, the longer wavelengths would be excluded.

Other waves outside the metal disk then create a force that tends to bring them closer to each other. The closer the metal disks are, the stronger the attraction between them.

In 1996, physicists first measured this so-called Casimir effect, confirming the existence of the zero-point energy of the vacuum.

So, how big can the zero point of vacuum be? Scientist Wheeler estimated that the energy density of vacuum can be as high as 13. What is this concept? It can almost be said to be infinite... In other words, the energy generated by the annihilation of matter in the entire universe may not be as much as the zero point of vacuum of 1 cubic centimeter!

This energy is so powerful, much more powerful than nuclear energy, that scientists can't help but wonder whether people can extract vacuum zero-point energy on a large scale?

Unfortunately, so far, it cannot be done. The Casimir force shrinks rapidly as the system scale increases. This problem can be said to be almost unsolvable.

At the current level of mankind, there is no way to utilize vacuum zero-point energy, which involves many complex and profound fields, such as the Dirac Sea and so on.

This is a mystery originating from the universe, and most scientists are still quite ignorant of this mysterious energy field. All people can do is to slightly heat two close metal plates, that's all.

It is precisely because of this half-understanding that people know how difficult it is to realize... But now, this spacecraft seems to use zero-point energy to give human beings energy.

Of course, what Rimbaud said is completely speculation and has no experimental basis.

"Everyone, I have made an assumption here. Our kinetic energy is converted from the zero point energy of vacuum. Of course, it may not be, but some other energy source... I think the kinetic energy is borrowed from zero point energy or somewhere else. Yes, I think the borrowed energy must be repaid." Dr. Rimbaud kept saying nothing.

“Our speed is strictly consistent with the spacecraft. When the spacecraft takes off, we also have speed, that is, we borrow energy from the vacuum and become kinetic energy.

When the spacecraft lands, our speed is zero, and the borrowed kinetic energy is returned silently, thus maintaining energy conservation throughout the process. "

"In this process, energy directly acts on every quantum in our body, so it seems that we do not need to be affected by force... Of course, this is a guess on my part."

"I'm sorry, our scientific level is currently unable to explain this mechanism... Although this is just a conjecture of mine, it is probably the case." Rimbaud spread his hands and said helplessly.

Except for the people at the Tesla Research Institute, everyone is about to be down. What does that mean? Can the borrowed energy be returned?

For example, someone boiled a pot of water with gas. Suddenly, he changed his mind and did not want the pot of water, so he returned the heat energy in the boiling water to the gas. The water instantly became cold, and the gas returned Regenerated...

It sounds so ridiculous...

However, if quantum theory is really used to explain it, it may be possible. Because according to quantum fluctuations, energy is generated for no reason and then disappears into nothingness in a very short period of time.

If there is a technology that can produce more energy than is turned into nothingness, assuming that at a certain moment, 100 parts of energy are quickly produced and 99 parts of energy are quickly annihilated, then it can be said that there is a share of energy from extracted from the vacuum.

But this energy still needs to be returned, but it will be annihilated more slowly. The entire energy generated by quantum fluctuations will eventually return to zero. This may be what Rimbaud meant.

"So, Dr. Rimbaud, what basis do you have to confirm your suspicion?"

"Of course there is." Rimbaud said immediately: "I observed that when the spacecraft took off, we had speed without being acted upon by any force. So, what about when the spacecraft slowed down?"

"These days, our spacecraft has been decelerating, but we humans still have not experienced acceleration in the opposite direction. This shows that the kinetic energy we have is slowly decreasing without the action of force, so I guess that the kinetic energy is returned to vacuum."

"So, I had a new idea: Since our kinetic energy is given by vacuum zero-point energy or other energy, what will happen if we don't return this energy?"

After hearing this, many people have begun to feel restless. Rimbaud's hypothesis is already very absurd, but it seems logical and sounds very weird. Someone suddenly asked: "Dr. Rimbaud, how can we not return this part of the energy?"

"It's very simple, escape from this spacecraft! If I walk from the inside of the spacecraft to the outside, this part of the kinetic energy will be taken out of the spacecraft by me. It is very likely that I will not need to return this part of the energy."

"In order to test this idea, I did some experiments and moved some large-mass objects outside the spacecraft. But a new phenomenon occurred. The speed of the spacecraft actually decreased a little!

This shows that after I transferred the kinetic energy, the overall energy of the spacecraft decreased, that is... the spacecraft helped us return this energy! "

People were silent, digesting the information Rimbaud gave.

Yu Yifeng understood. What does that mean? That is to say, this spacecraft uses unknown technology that allows people to borrow energy from zero point to ensure that it has the same speed as the spacecraft. When the speed of the spacecraft slows down, this part of the energy will be returned quietly. In this way, the energy does not increase or decrease and remains balanced.

A vacuum is equivalent to a wealthy big creditor who wants to borrow money. Come to me and take whatever you want without any interest.

However, if matter is transferred from inside the spacecraft to outside the spacecraft, the kinetic energy of the object will also be transferred outside the spacecraft. It is equivalent to the debtor running away. Now Vacuum is in a hurry. The monk cannot run away from the temple. Since he cannot find the debtor, he can only ask the Noah spacecraft itself to get this part of the energy back.

Then, the speed of the spacecraft will also decrease...

What amazing technology, what a strange phenomenon!

"To put it simply, how much kinetic energy we transfer from it will reduce the kinetic energy of the spacecraft, which should satisfy the following equation..." Dr. Rimbaud began to demonstrate his report on the screen again, listing a long list of formulas.

"I'm sorry to ask, does your discovery have any practical use?" Yu Yifeng raised his hand.

"Hello, Mr. Yu, we believe that the spacecraft can be accelerated or decelerated based on this phenomenon."

Rimbaud said: "The mass of the spacecraft is constant at about 1.03 million tons. If we eject an object three times the mass of the spacecraft, the spacecraft will return a large amount of kinetic energy to the object, and it will immediately decelerate to half of its original speed."

"If an object with 8 times the mass of the spacecraft is ejected, the speed of the spacecraft will be directly reduced to one-third of the original speed! This deceleration process is almost instantaneous. Everyone understands that this is a new type of spacecraft in the universe. What a way to slow down!”

"Under macroscopic low-speed conditions, the deceleration formula satisfies v1=√(m0/m1)*v0. m0 is the original mass of the spacecraft, and m1 is the sum of the mass of the spacecraft and the mass of the projectile."

"Based on this formula, we designed a plan to quickly decelerate the spacecraft. As long as we continue to eject large-mass objects, the speed of the spacecraft will quickly decrease."

"On the contrary, keep throwing materials with large mass and kinetic energy into the spacecraft. The speed of the spacecraft will increase... The vacuum is the real big creditor. It will never ask for your money, it will only add this part of the energy to On the spaceship."

Everyone was stunned, what does this mean? If you throw something out, you can slow down, and if you throw something in, you can speed up. Is there such a good thing?

What a god-like technology...

However, after discussing for a while, the scientists found that there was no way to accelerate the spacecraft using this method. The reason is simple. If you want to throw a large mass object into a spacecraft, it must fly faster than the spacecraft, which requires a more advanced engine to do it.

If there were an engine that could make objects fly faster, why not install the engine directly on the spacecraft?

However, it is good to use it to slow down. As long as the material is continuously thrown out of the spacecraft, the speed will drop. This is a good point. In space, slowing down is also a troublesome thing.

"We named this deceleration plan the beyond deceleration plan!"

As long as the material is continuously thrown out of the spacecraft, it can slow down. What a simple and practical solution. It is much more economical than the reverse jet of a rocket!

At this moment, because of this discovery and this paper, the Tesla Research Institute’s points began to approach or even surpass the Wild Wolf Design Bureau!

(Comrades, Happy National Day!

It doesn't matter if you don't understand. As long as you push things from the inside to the outside of the spacecraft, the speed of the spacecraft will decrease. We may use this later.

Note: Quantum theory is really amazing science, almost nothing is impossible.

There is a saying that the origin of the universe originated from a quantum fluctuation.

Quantum fluctuations "borrow" energy from the vacuum to create particles (up), and "return" it to the vacuum (down) within a time specified by the energy-time uncertainty. This period of time is uncertain, usually Considered very short. After a fluctuation, it is equivalent to nothing happening, but in a very short and uncertain time process, the conservation of energy is broken.

In 1998, scientist Gus also published a popular book introducing cosmic inflation. His favorite saying is: "The universe itself is a free lunch." This means that the universe came from nothing, but At that time, all the energy may be returned to the vacuum, and this time may be very long.

My setting is based on this quantum fluctuation phenomenon. The kinetic energy in the spacecraft is provided by the zero-point energy of the vacuum. It can be returned after being borrowed. That's roughly it. I don't know if you understand it. )

Thanks to Lanhai VIP, Yuyingjiu, and Sanqingfeng for the rewards, thank you!