24/10/2023
In the early 1900โs, Max Planck predicted the existence of a non-zero expectation value for the electromagnetic quantum vacuum energy density or zero-point energy (ZPE), which physical effects were later verified by numerous experiments such as the Casimir and dynamical Casimir effect. From the mechanics of a quantum oscillator, Planck derived the equation for an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation -known as the black body spectrum- and his solution had a non-vanishing energy term remaining at zero temperature, where the summation of all modes of oscillations diverged to infinity in each point of the field. This meant that even at zero temperature, there was an infinite energy density at each point in space.
Although the ZPE is essential for the mathematical consistency of quantum mechanics as it maintains the non-commutativity of the position and momentum operators resulting in the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and therefore showing that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is a consequence of the vacuum fluctuations, a common approach is to set artificially to zero this ZPE by placing the energy reference so that all ground state modes cancel out, The infinite source of energy becomes neglected by this renormalization, as if the quantum system was unplugged from its energy source. Under this picture, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is utilized to explain the origin of the quantum vacuum fluctuations, as there would be no other explanation for the origin of these oscillations, and this is a misunderstanding.
When properly accounted for, these vacuum fluctuations acting in a coherent regime, produce the rest mass of the protons, which is where most of the mass of the universe resides. Download the paper at the CERN preprint server to learn more - https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.8381114