Quantum Fluctuation

A Quantum Fluctuation is a temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space as explained in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

• AKA: Vacuum Fluctuation.
• See: Quantum Physics, Uncertainty Principle, Conservation of Energy, Antiparticle, Virtual Particle, Eigenstate, Hamiltonian (Quantum Mechanics), Commutative Operation, Quantum Annealing.

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References

2015

• (Wikipedia, 2015) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/quantum_fluctuation Retrieved:2015-2-1.
  • In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (or quantum vacuum fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as explained in Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. According to one formulation of the principle, energy and time can be related by the relation  :[math]\displaystyle{ \Delta E \Delta t \approx {h \over 4 \pi} }[/math]

    That means that conservation of energy can appear to be violated, but only for small values of t (time). This allows the creation of particle-antiparticle pairs of virtual particles.

    The effects of these particles are measurable, for example, in the effective charge of the electron, different from its "naked" charge.

    In the modern view, energy is always conserved, but the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian (energy observable) are not the same as (i.e. the Hamiltonian does not commute with) the particle number operators.

    Quantum fluctuations may have been very important in the origin of the structure of the universe: according to the model of inflation the ones that existed when inflation began were amplified and formed the seed of all current observed structure. Vacuum energy may also be responsible for the current accelerated expansion of the universe (cosmological constant).

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