#quantumvacuum

Quantum Vacuum

Quantum vacuum would be the space in which apparently nothing exists for any observer but contains a minimal amount of energy, mainly electromagnetic and gravitational fields and virtual particles (force particles) interacting with each other.

Previously, there was thought to be a physical entity called the absolute vacuum on which several scientists of the Middle Ages, including Blaise Pascal, have carried out various experiments to try to reaffirm this idea.

The absolute vacuum would be one in which nothing would exist, no chemical elements, fields and particles of force, etc. However, it was found that if such Absolute Vacuum really existed, it would contradict Werner Heisenberg's famous Principle of Uncertainty, the postulate and major basis of Quantum Mechanics.

Quantum mechanics, generally and simpler, is the physics of probabilities, in which there is no certainty as to the position and velocity of a particle, but a measure of probabilities of finding the particle in a given position and at a given velocity.

The Principle of Uncertainty of the Physicist Werner Heisenberg, emphasizes mathematically this idea, in which it is impossible to simultaneously determine with infinite acuity the position and velocity of a particle. The more precisely the position is determined, the less speed is determined, and vice versa.

This is because when we need to determine the position and velocity of a particle, we need to focus light on it. This light has a certain frequency and consequently a given energy. Thus, the position and / or velocity of a particle are altered according to the frequency and energy of the light used to observe them. That is why the more you determine one thing, the more indeterminate another and vice versa. This depends on the frequency and energy of the light used for observation.

The typical example is of the two uncharged conductive plates in a vacuum, placed a few nanometers apart. In a classical description, the lack of an external field means that there is no field between the plates, and no force would be measured between them. When this field is instead studied using the quantum electrodynamic vacuum, it is seen that the plates do affect the virtual photons which constitute the field, and generate a net force – either an attraction or a repulsion depending on the specific arrangement of the two plates. Although the Casimir effect can be expressed in terms of virtual particles interacting with the objects, it is best described and more easily calculated in terms of the zero-point energy of a quantized field in the intervening space between the objects. This force has been measured and is a striking example of an effect captured formally by second quantization.

Contrary to what is commonly understood, the vacuum is full of potential particles, virtual matter pairs and antimatter, which are constantly being created and destroyed. They do not exist as observable entities, but they exert pressure on other particles (Casimir effect).

The creation of virtual particle pairs does not violate the law of conservation of mass / energy because they exist in very small time intervals, much smaller than Planck's time (10 ^ -44s), so that they do not impact the laws macroscopic.

The quantum vacuum is the lowest state of energy known in the universe (rather than the absolute zero).

Visualizations of Quantum Chromodynamics

The animations above illustrate the typical four-dimensional structure of gluon-field configurations averaged over in describing the vacuum properties of QCD. The volume of the box is 2.4 by 2.4 by 3.6 fm, big enough to hold a couple of protons. Contrary to the concept of an empty vacuum, QCD induces chromo-electric and chromo-magnetic fields throughout space-time in its lowest energy state. After a few sweeps of smoothing the gluon field (50 sweeps of APE smearing), a lumpy structure reminiscent of a lava lamp is revealed. This is the QCD Lava Lamp. The action density (top) and the topological charge density (below) are displayed. The former is similar to an energy density while the latter is a measure of the winding of the gluon field lines in the QCD vacuum.

This animation shows the suppression of the QCD vacuum from the region between a quark-antiquark pair illustrated by the coloured spheres. The separation of the quarks varies from 0.125 fm to 2.25 fm, the latter being about 1.3 times the diameter of a proton. The surface plot illustrates the reduction of the vacuum action density in a plane passing through the centers of the quark-antiquark pair. The vector field illustrates the gradient of this reduction. The tube joining the two quarks reveals the positions in space where the vacuum action is maximally expelled and corresponds to the famous "flux tube" of QCD. As the separation between the quarks changes the tube gets longer but the diameter remains approximately constant. As it costs energy to expel the vacuum field fluctuations, a linear confinement potential is felt between quarks.

The manner in which QCD vacuum fluctuations are expelled from the interior region of a baryon like the proton is animated at above. The positions of the three quarks composing the proton are illustrated by the coloured spheres. The surface plot illustrates the reduction of the vacuum action density in a plane passing through the centers of the quarks. The vector field illustrates the gradient of this reduction. The positions in space where the vacuum action is maximally expelled from the interior of the proton are also illustrated by the tube-like structures, exposing the presence of flux tubes. A key point of interest is the distance at which the flux-tube formation occurs. The animation indicates that the transition to flux-tube formation occurs when the distance of the quarks from the centre of the triangle (< r >) is greater than 0.5 fm. Again, the diameter of the flux tubes remains approximately constant as the quarks move to large separations. As it costs energy to expel the vacuum field fluctuations, a linear confinement potential is felt between quarks in baryons as well as mesons.

source: wikipedia

Casimir effect 

Animation (quantum particles)

Brookhaven National Laboratory news

Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have “captured a glimpse” into the quantum vacuum, a major particle physics breakthrough. First observation by the STAR Collaboration shows that high-energy subatomic collision particles have a “quantum memory” of virtual particles that momentarily appeared in the quantum vacuum.

Something Called “Nothingness”

In classical physics, a vacuum is a space without matter or energy. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is more chaotic. The quantum vacuum is a “seething sea” of virtual particles, according to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Quark-antiquark pairs vanish instantly.

For decades, these oscillations have been thought to explain the Casimir effect and Lamb shift, but they are typically “virtual,” meaning sensors cannot measure them. The BNL breakthrough, led by physicist Zhoudunming (Kong) Tu, involves “boost” these imaginary particles into reality, catching them in the process of creating the universe.

The Experiment: Virtual to Real

Researchers utilized the RHIC to smash protons at nearly light speed. The vacuum encounters high electromagnetic fields and energy densities during large smashups. The researchers found that these collisions provide the “extra energy boost” needed for vacuum-based quark-antiquark couples to become visible particles.

Vector mesons like phi (ϕ) and rho (ρ) were identified by the STAR detector at RHIC. This is the first time we've been able to observe directly that the quarks that make up these particles are coming from the vacuum,” Dr. Tu said, calling it a “direct window” into quantum vacuum fluctuations.

The Smoking Gun: Spin Alignment and “Quantum Twins” Spin alignment, a quantum property, enabled this finding. Spin is essential to magnetism and angular momentum. Particle spins should be uniformly distributed in all directions in a truly random particle production process. The STAR team found a high correlation between particle pair spins, particularly lambda hyperons and antilambdas.

The study by physicist Jan Vanek showed that lambdas and antilambdas in close proximity are 100% spin aligned. This alignment matched the predicted direction of the quantum vacuum's virtual odd quark pairs. Scientists were able to trace the real particles back to the vacuum because they “inherited” this alignment from their virtual ancestors.

Vanek called these particle pairs “quantum twins” because they preserve a spin link from the quantum vacuum before the particles formed. This correlation acts as "quantum DNA" for matter, showing that the particles were produced by the quantum vacuum's structure rather than the impact energy. As the particles moved away, they lost this bond, probably due to interactions with other quarks.

A global quantum watershed

The BNL publication coincides with a surge in vacuum research in early 2026, creating a “Global Quantum Watershed”. Day the BNL report was released:

MIT physicists described a terahertz microscope for superconducting electron “quantum jiggling” observations.

Oxford University and Lisbon University researchers used ultra-intense lasers to "stir" the vacuum to generate light from darkness via quantum vacuum four-wave mixing.

Theorists from the University of British Columbia suggested using superfluid helium as a “lab-bench vacuum” to reproduce the Schwinger effect, where intense fields pull particles out of voids.

Matter Origins and Future Frontiers

This finding offers a new approach to mass genesis research. Why “visible” matter like protons and neutrons is much heavier than their quarks has long puzzled physicists. The strong nuclear force and vacuum energy are thought to explain it. By “peering into” the quantum vacuum, scientists may study how mass and spin form from “nothingness”.

The effects go beyond theoretical physics:

Qubit “noise” is the biggest barrier to fault-tolerant quantum computing. Understanding vacuum fluctuations helps reduce it.

Dark Matter: Some ideas suggest the vacuum is dark matter or energy. Vacuum interactions may reveal these invisible forces' “fingerprints”.

New Materials: Controlling matter's interaction with the vacuum's “zero-point energy” could create “impossible” materials like room-temperature superconductivity.

In conclusion

The 2026 BNL discovery will make the quantum vacuum an experimental subject rather than a theoretical backdrop. Dr. Tu said the study would eventually move to the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), which will have more precise instrumentation to explore the vacuum's effect on the mass of stars, galaxies, and subatomic particles.

Quantum Zero-Point Field

New research suggests the brain does not develop consciousness alone. It could be a biological resonator that “taps into” the universe's basis, the Zero-Point Field. This implies that awareness is a macroscopic quantum phenomena tied to a “universal hum” rather than neuron chatter.

The Quantum Vacuum: Energy Ocean

The fundamental theory of electromagnetics, quantum electrodynamics (QED), explains this significant transformation. According to QED, “empty space” is not a void. The electromagnetic zero-point field is a seething energy ocean.

Quantum fluctuations allow energy to pervade space even at absolute zero, when classical motion ends. Dr. Joachim Keppler found that the brain's architecture has changed to accommodate this location. Keppler claims that this resonant connection drives conscious awareness's complex dynamics by integrating architectural findings with neurophysiology and mathematical model computations.

Biological Hardware: Cortical Microcolumns

This discovery centers on cortical microcolumns, brain building units. These little, vertical structures with 100 neurons process sensory data.

A specific mechanism for this relationship is identified. Quantitative models reveal that certain ZPF frequencies, or “modes,” can resonate with glutamate, the brain's most abundant neurotransmitter. These microcolumns contain glutamate pools that act as a “quantum medium” for neurons.

These microcolumns immediately connect to the ZPF during consciousness. This interaction creates coherence domains, where several molecules resonate in perfect harmony. Surprisingly, “energy gaps” insulate delicate quantum states from brain thermal noise in these domains. Human brains are "warm and wet," which kills macroscopic quantum effects, but this explains their stability.

Self-Organized Criticality: Brain Tuning

Neuroscientists have long known that conscious brains self-organize criticality. Beta and gamma brain activity normally regulates this delicate balance between chaos and order. This regime keeps the brain at a phase transition, allowing a small sensory input like a flower's scent to cause a "neuronal avalanche". This massive activity brings a sensation to consciousness.

The “big question” has always been: what keeps the brain in this state? Recent discoveries suggest the ZPF is a “hidden orchestrator”. The ZPF and glutamate resonant interaction generates intracolumnar microwave fields that regulate neuronal activity. Dynamics need excitation-inhibition. Instead of storing consciousness, the brain resonates with a field that is both internal to physics and external to the body, like a radio receiver.

Evidence from Anesthesia: Mind Decoupling

Research on loss of awareness supports this idea. The brain's critical equilibrium disappears under general anesthesia or profound sleep, causing a substantial divergence from synchronous dynamics.

Recent investigations have shown that drugs that connect to neuron microtubules can delay unconsciousness. The quantum model calls anesthesia a “jammer,” yet the classical model states it “turns off” neurons. In this case, anesthetic substances prevent the brain from synchronizing with the global background field, “decoupling” the biological system from the ZPF. Breaking this link erases consciousness' "light".

Confronting Skeptics: “Warm Brain” Problem

The hypothesis is still controversial despite Frontiers' mathematical precision. Critics dub “quantum consciousness” “woo science” that explains biological problems with vague physics.

The temperature difference between human-made quantum computing and the body is the major scientific problem. Since synthetic quantum computers must be frozen to almost absolute zero to work, critics argue that the constant “jiggling” of atoms at the brain's +37°C temperature should undermine quantum coherence.

Proponents refer to macroscopic quantum effects in nature like photosynthesis and bird navigation, where biological systems have evolved clever methods to protect quantum processes from heat. Brain glutamate pools and microcolumn structures are the most evolved examples of these natural barriers, they say.

New Neuroscience and Medicine Era

Validating Keppler's model changes self-awareness. It suggests a more complex interaction between humans and the universe by arguing that the line between the “self” and the “external world” is more thinner than previously assumed.

Medicine has practical implications beyond philosophy. By mapping the brain's "ZPF modes," researchers hope to develop groundbreaking treatments for consciousness-related disorders. New methods of “re-tuning” brain resonance may treat:

The Alzheimer's

Chronic vegetative states

General cognitive deterioration conditions

In 2026, scientists will investigate whether the brain uses the quantum vacuum. These findings bring humanity closer to understanding the fundamental hum of existence, whether the mind is a lonely computer or a cosmic resonator.

Quantum Computing Innovation: Tri-Type QRNG Provides On-Demand Randomness at Record Speeds Because the digital world needs genuinely random numbers for cryptography, Monte Carlo simulations, and advanced artificial intelligence, Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG) has grown constantly. Because their mathematical algorithm and seed can be predicted, conventional pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs) pose major security risks. QRNGs use vacuum noise or photon statistics to produce random numbers.

A key shortcoming of most older QRNGs is that they only produce one type of random number distribution. Fluid mechanics and aerodynamics use Rayleigh distributed random numbers, financial modelling and climate simulations use Gaussian random numbers, and machine learning and cryptography need uniformly distributed random numbers. Until recently, coping with this diversity of applications required deploying numerous hardware systems or converting one random distribution to another, which sacrificed many secure bits and risked numerical mistakes. Researchers have constructed and proved the first tri-type QRNG system, which can measure quantum and process the results to produce uniform, Gaussian, and Rayleigh random bits on demand using the same hardware. Multi-Distribution Output with Quantum Vacuum Noise

Dual-quadrature homodyne detection monitors quantum vacuum noise, giving the tri-type QRNG versatility. Unlike earlier single-type QRNGs, this approach measures both quadrature simultaneously. The raw data from these measures naturally forms all three essential distributions: By measuring the vacuum state's quadrature using homodyne detection, Gaussian-distributed raw random numbers can be obtained.

Uniform and Rayleigh Distributions: Phase space charts can yield uniform and Rayleigh distributed digital random numbers. Amplitude is Rayleigh, but phase angle is uniform. Importantly, an FPGA board's electrical postprocessing step handles all the functionality to switch between the three distribution methods, ensuring that the quantum bits' high production rate is unaffected. Speed and Accessibility Standards The experimental device generates over 60 Gbits/s (Gbps) of raw bits, demonstrating its speed. The needed randomness extraction process eliminates classical side channel information and ensures quantum randomness, resulting in high safe bit rates: Uniform Random Numbers: Over 42 Gbps safe bit rate. This consistent random number passed NIST, Dieharder, and other rigorous statistical tests. Researchers suggested optimising the high-speed, low-noise anti-aliasing filter to raise the uniform extraction rate to over 68.25 Gbps. Secure bit rate extraction over 14 Gbps with Gaussian Random Numbers. A better extractor and filter could boost this pace to 22 Gbps. This device's hardware uses a 1550 nm fiber-coupled CW laser. Split laser light disrupts quantum vacuum state. Two homodyne detectors collect measurement signals, which are digitally processed by an AMD ZCU111 RFSoC development board. Additionally, technology is becoming more accessible in real life. Users can access the Cisco Quantum Random Number Service with statistically confirmed numbers uploaded to the Cisco Cloud after real-time testing. Security bits are continuously created on the FPGA board. Extraction and Statistical Integrity Challenge A robust randomness extractor must be applied to noisy raw quantum measurement results for great security. The well-known Toeplitz extractor, based on the universal hashing function, ensures net randomness extraction even with a reusable seed for uniform random numbers.

Our quest to understand the cosmos often leads us to the edges of our current understanding, where established theories give way to intriguing possibilities. Two such realms, pressure waves and quantum mechanics, offer a tantalizing glimpse into the interconnectedness of the physical world and the potential for extraordinary phenomena, with the human brain acting as a bridge between these realms. Central to this exploration is the concept of info-quanta, the fundamental units of information that may underlie the fabric of reality.

Pressure Waves: Ripples in the Info-Quanta Field

Imagine pressure waves not just as disturbances in a medium but as ripples in a field of info-quanta, the fundamental units of information that permeate the universe. These waves, carrying information and energy, could interact with the info-quanta field, influencing the behavior of quantum systems and potentially even shaping the emergence of our physical reality.

Quantum Mechanics: A Realm of Hidden Variables and Non-Locality

Quantum mechanics, with its inherent uncertainty and non-locality, suggests that the universe is far stranger than our classical intuition suggests. Hidden variables, yet to be discovered, could underlie the apparent randomness of quantum events. Non-locality implies that entangled particles, separated by vast distances, can instantaneously influence each other, challenging our understanding of space and time. The info-quanta field could provide a substrate for these quantum phenomena, offering a deeper level of explanation for the interconnectedness and non-locality observed in the quantum world.

The Brain as a Pressure Wave Interferometer:

Now, envision the human brain as a finely tuned instrument within this symphony of pressure waves and quantum phenomena. The brain, with its complex network of neurons and intricate electrical activity, could act as a pressure wave interferometer, capable of generating and detecting subtle pressure waves that interact with the info-quanta field. Our thoughts, intentions, and emotions might translate into patterns of pressure waves, influencing the dance of probability waves and the behavior of info-quanta, thereby shaping the emergence of physical reality.

Bridging the Gap: The Mind's Influence on Reality:

Pressure waves, potentially generated by the brain, could serve as a bridge between the macroscopic world of our thoughts and experiences and the enigmatic quantum realm. They might carry information through the info-quanta field, influencing the behavior of particles and even affecting the macroscopic world. This could explain phenomena that currently defy explanation, such as subtle energy fields, distant healing, or even psychic abilities.

The Symphony of Consciousness and Reality:

If pressure waves generated by the brain interact with the info-quanta field and the quantum realm, it strengthens the idea of consciousness playing an active role in shaping reality. Our thoughts and intentions, through the medium of pressure waves and their influence on info-quanta, may have a direct impact on the physical world, influencing the probabilities of events and contributing to the manifestation of our desires and experiences.

Exploring the Frontiers of Possibility:

Investigating the interplay between pressure waves, quantum mechanics, consciousness, and the info-quanta field requires venturing beyond the confines of established science. It necessitates open-mindedness and a willingness to consider unconventional ideas. Experimental verification remains a challenge, but theoretical exploration and the pursuit of subtle energy phenomena could pave the way for groundbreaking discoveries.

Conclusion: