Related papers: Negative Energy: From Lamb Shift to Entanglement
On the way towards quantum gravity and the unification of interaction, several ideas have been rejected and avenues avoided because they were perceived as physically unviable. But in the literature there are works in which it was found the…
The cosmological constant problem is principally concerned with trying to understand how the zero-point energy of quantum fields contributes to gravity. Here we take the approach that by addressing a fundamental unresolved issue in quantum…
It is commonly agreed that the electromagnetic vacuum is not empty but filled with virtual photons. This leads to effects like Lamb shift and spontaneous emission. Here we argue that if the vacuum has virtual photons it might mean that it…
We argue that calculating vacuum energy requires quantum field theory whose axioms are adapted to curved spacetime. In this context, we suggest that non-zero vacuum energy is connected to dynamical breaking of electroweak symmetry. The…
The phase velocity of light is co-parallel to the direction of energy flow in classical vacuum. However, in certain uncommon materials, these two vectors can be oppositely directed, in which case the phase velocity is termed `negative'.…
Following a short discussion of some unresolved issues in the standard model of cosmology (considered to be a generic LCDM model with flat geometry and an early period of inflation), an update on the current state of research regarding the…
In classical physics the energy density of a field, such as the electromagnetic field, is always positive. However, in quantum field theory it has been shown that the energy density can be negative. There are restrictions, called the…
The concepts of complementarity and entanglement are considered with respect to their significance in and beyond physics. A formally generalized, weak version of quantum theory, more general than ordinary quantum theory of material systems,…
In previous work it has been shown that the electromagnetic quantum vacuum, or electromagnetic zero-point field, makes a contribution to the inertial reaction force on an accelerated object. We show that the result for inertial mass can be…
We derive Bethe's formula for the Lamb shift by extending Feynman's suggestion that the shift could be interpreted as the change, due to the presence of the atom, in electromagnetic field energy. This approach is based on measurable…
We study the backreaction of free quantum fields on a flat Robertson-Walker spacetime. Apart from renormalization freedom, the vacuum energy receives contributions from both the trace anomaly and the thermal nature of the quantum state. The…
Physics invites the idea that space contains energy whose gravitational effect approximates that of Einstein's cosmological constant, Lambda; nowadays the concept is termed dark energy or quintessence. Physics also suggests the dark energy…
Given an unknown quantum state distributed over two systems, we determine how much quantum communication is needed to transfer the full state to one system. This communication measures the "partial information" one system needs conditioned…
The failure to calculate the vacuum energy is a central problem in theoretical physics. Presumably the problem arises from the insistent use of effective field theory reasoning in a context that is well beyond its intended scope. If one…
We investigate quantum many-body systems where all low-energy states are entangled. As a tool for quantifying such systems, we introduce the concept of the entanglement gap, which is the difference in energy between the ground-state energy…
A simple description of the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) problem for non-experts is presented. Basic features of cosmology with non-zero vacuum energy are discussed. The astronomical data which indicate that the universe is filled…
The following two papers form a natural development of a previous series of three articles on the foundations of quantum mechanics; they are intended to take the theory there developed to its utmost logical and epistemological consequences.…
It is argued that the zero point energy in quantum field theory is a reflection of the particle anti-particle content of the theory. This essential physical content is somewhat disguised in electromagnetic theory wherein the photon is its…
The quantum null energy condition (QNEC) is a conjectured relation between a null version of quantum field theory energy and derivatives of quantum field theory von Neumann entropy. In some cases, divergences cancel between these two terms…
We show that the vacuum (zero-point) energy of a low-temperature quantum liquid is a variable property which changes with the state of the system, in notable contrast to the static vacuum energy in solids commonly considered. We further…