1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 555: Absolute Zero! There is Energy! Zero-point Energy of Vacuum! Shocking! Sensational!
In the lecture hall of Berlin University.

Everyone was shocked by Li Qiwei's theory.

Most people just listen for fun and don't understand at all.

Or they can only understand the surface.

Even a talented postdoctoral fellow like Rabi feels that his brain is not enough.

Actually, it’s not their fault.

The main reason is that the concepts of quantum vacuum fluctuations and virtual particles are too advanced.

It sounds a bit hazy.

In real history, when quantum field theory developed to its later stage, the culmination of all the theories gave birth to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, or the Standard Model for short.

The Standard Model contains a total of 61 fundamental particles.

These particles can be divided into two types.

One is the particles that make up matter, such as electrons, quarks, etc.

The other type is particles that transmit various forces, such as gluons that transmit strong force, photons that transmit electromagnetic force, and W bosons and Z bosons that transmit weak force.

Logically, there should be gravitons that transmit gravity, but they have not been found yet.

It is important to note that all particles in the Standard Model are real particles, not virtual particles.

That is to say: the above 61 particles are real existences that can be directly detected.

Some people may have questions here.

"I touch the ball with my hand and it moves. How can particles be involved in the transmission of force between the hand and the ball?"

This is the magic of quantum mechanics.

In the microscopic quantum field, according to the standard model theory, the essence of various forces is realized through the exchange of mediating particles.

But there is something very special about it.

such as.

When we talk about "the medium for transmitting electromagnetic force is photons", the photons in this sentence refer to virtual photons, not real photons.

But when we talk about "the medium that transmits strong force is gluons", the gluons in this sentence refer to real gluons, not virtual gluons.

It is indeed very strange, but it also reflects the special nature of photons.

The concept of virtual particles is used in the study of the transmission of this force.

But with the development of physics, its connotation has been greatly extended.

From this we can see how imaginative Ridgway's idea is to go beyond quantum field theory and the standard model and now give the concept of virtual particles.

It is normal not to understand, it is abnormal to understand.

However, just when everyone was shocked by this theory and didn't even know where to start asking questions.

Planck keenly discovered a problem.

He said, "Bruce, your theory is very forward-looking."

"General relativity explains that matter tells space and time how to move."

"Quantum mechanics explains the nature of space from another perspective."

"The two pillars of modern physics have come to incredible conclusions about the vacuum."

"But I think your quantum vacuum fluctuations still need to explain one problem."

“So where does the energy for fluctuation come from?”

"For microscopic particles, their energy can come from kinetic energy or potential energy, and both are traceable."

"But where does the energy for quantum vacuum fluctuations come from?"

"From a macroscopic perspective, the virtual particle pair is generated and then annihilated, which is equivalent to [borrowing] energy from the fluctuating vacuum and then returning it."

"This process complies with the law of conservation of energy."

“But when the vacuum goes from having no energy to fluctuating and then to having energy [at that moment], where does it borrow its energy from?”

“This energy may be truly created out of thin air.”

"But obviously, it violates the law of conservation of energy."

Wow!
After Planck finished speaking, there was an uproar in the conference hall.

Sure enough, ginger is still spicy!
Planck grasped the core contradiction of quantum vacuum fluctuations.

Where does the energy of fluctuation come from?
Although the uncertainty principle proves that the energy of a particle is constantly changing.

But you have to have energy before you can change.

Make bricks without straw!

If there is no energy itself, how can there be change?
If virtual particles borrow energy from the vacuum, then the vacuum must borrow the same energy from somewhere else.

Otherwise, the law of conservation of energy will be broken.

At this moment, everyone was excited.

"Professor Planck is indeed a future talent."

"A wonderful battle between master and apprentice is about to begin."

Einstein, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and others were all shocked.

Professor Planck’s questions are indeed very sharp!

Li Chengdao was excited.

After all, he is only 18 years old.

Although he usually behaves very mature and steady, his passion is quickly aroused in situations like this.

“This is what father is like!”

"One man fights them all!"

"If I could have such a day, I would die without regrets!"

For him who aspires to study physics, the pleasure brought by this lecture was like attending the Peach Banquet in Journey to the West.

Wonderful and exciting!
It was as if the whole soul was sublimated.

At this moment, he suddenly turned to look at Li Chengde, unable to resist his curiosity, and asked:
"Second brother, how do you answer Professor Planck's question?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengde changed into a comfortable position.

He rubbed his chin with his right hand, which was rare, and fell into thought.

Li Chengdao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

My second brother finally encountered something he didn’t know how to do.

This shows that he is a real person, not an omniscient and omnipotent non-human being.

Physical intuition is not omnipotent.

Suddenly, Li Chengde had an idea and said:

"Brother, why do you think the vacuum must borrow energy from something else?"

"Can't it have energy all by itself?"

"This not only explains Professor Planck's question, but also makes quantum vacuum fluctuations easier to understand."

hiss!
Li Chengdao took a breath when he heard this.

He thought his second brother's idea was too shocking!
"Uh~"

"Second brother, I think you are definitely wrong this time."

"A vacuum is a vacuum, how can there be energy?"

Li Chengde asked back:
"If there is no energy in the vacuum, how do you explain the phenomenon of quantum vacuum fluctuations?"

Li Chengdao said:

"Quantum vacuum fluctuations are still just a conjecture."

Li Chengde chuckled and hummed:
"Brother, you don't believe our dad!"

Li Chengdao's face was full of seriousness, and he said excitedly:
"I love my Father, but I love the truth more!"

Li Chengde suddenly sighed quietly, so quietly that only he could hear it.

"My silly brother, our father is the truth itself."

At this moment, facing the questions from his mentor Planck, Li Qiwei just smiled slightly.

Then, he said something shocking!

"Professor, you have already given the answer to this question."

Wow!
When Planck heard this, he was stunned for a moment!

What's going on?

This is a question I just asked today, how come I have already given the answer?

Others were also confused.

If Planck had really studied this, it would have caused a sensation in the physics world a long time ago.

It's impossible that there is no news at all.

After Planck left the frontline work, he did not give up physics research directly.

He takes time every day to do some theoretical thinking and occasionally publishes papers.

On the one hand, it is to guide students and provide them with some good topics.

For academic research, finding the right direction is more important than working hard.

The core ability of a true boss is to be able to distinguish which issues are important and which are secondary.

Only by thinking about important issues can we have the opportunity to come up with major results that will change physics.

On the other hand, Planck himself was passionate about physics.

Without physics, he even felt that life became boring.

So, despite his age, he is still familiar with cutting-edge physics.

However, he still couldn't remember what work he had done in the past that could be connected to today's quantum vacuum fluctuations.

He asked doubtfully:

"Bruce, did you remember it wrong?"

"You just proposed the concept of quantum vacuum fluctuation today?"

"How could I have studied it?"

Li Qiwei smiled and said:
"Professor, I wonder if you still remember that you published a paper more than ten years ago."

“In that paper, you used the old quantum theory to redefine the formula for blackbody radiation.”

"And the blackbody model used remains unchanged, it is still the simple harmonic oscillator model."

“Finally, you deduce the energy state of the entire system.”

Planck was confused at first, but soon his expression brightened.

He smiled and said:

"Oh! I remember now!"

"That was in 1913, and I did write a paper to that effect."

"At the time I was trying to study the connection between old quantum theory and quantum concepts."

"Bruce, I didn't expect you would still remember such a long-ago paper."

Planck felt a warm feeling in his heart.

His most proud student actually remembered the paper he wrote ten years ago.

Even he himself had forgotten it.

Everyone admired Professor Bruce's memory.

This is too scary!

At this time, Planck asked:

"But Bruce, there shouldn't be anything in that paper that's worthy of your attention."

"Not to mention the connection with quantum vacuum fluctuations?"

Li Qiwei smiled at Planck and said:
"No!"

“Not only is it related, it’s a big deal!”

Then he looked to his right and said:
"Schrödinger, help me turn on the projector."

Everyone was shocked!
Professor Bruce not only remembered the existence of the paper, he even wanted to tear it up by hand.

Schrödinger hurried forward to debug it.

Adjusting the projector for Professor Bruce is like helping the king lead the horse.

At this moment, Li Qiwei said as he wrote:
"Professor Planck came to a strange conclusion in that paper."

"Everyone please look at the screen."

"He came up with this formula when calculating the energy of a black body system."

"There's something very strange about this formula."

"When the temperature of a black body is set to absolute zero, the simple harmonic oscillator does not vibrate at all."

"Logically, the total energy of a black body should be zero."

"But according to the formula, it has an extra term: hw/2."

"Obviously, this shows that black bodies still have energy even at absolute zero."

"This energy is not the energy carried by the matter itself in the mass-energy equation, but the energy of the vibration of the simple harmonic oscillator."

"Professor Planck did not elaborate on this energy at the time." "He thought it was some special phenomenon of quantum system."

"But now it seems that this energy has extremely important significance."

"I temporarily named it [zero-point energy], which means the energy that the system has when it is in the zero-point ground state."

"It should be noted here that the zero point does not mean that the energy is definitely zero, but it means that the system at this time has reached the minimum energy value."

"To give you an illustrative example, when a swing is lowered to its lowest point, its potential energy is at its lowest, but it is not zero."

"The potential energy of the swing at this time is zero-point energy."

"Zero-point energy means that the system is now in its most stable state and nothing will change."

"And for a vibrating particle, obviously, when the temperature is absolute zero, the energy of its vibration is the lowest."

"According to Professor Planck's theory, particles still have non-zero zero-point energy even at absolute zero."

"From the perspective of the time, it was really a bit unbelievable."

Wow!
Li Qiwei's analysis shocked everyone.

"impossible!"

"This is absolutely impossible!"

Anyone with common sense in physics would not believe this result.

Not to mention that absolute zero is theoretically impossible to reach.

Even if it is really reached, at absolute zero, all particles will stop vibrating.

If the particles have stopped vibrating, how can there be zero-point energy of vibration?
Isn't this nonsense?

Planck listened to the discussions around him and smiled bitterly.

When he published this paper, not many people paid attention to it because of this conclusion.

Everyone thought he had got the concept or process wrong.

This extra energy that appears out of thin air cannot be the energy of the particle at absolute zero.

Planck himself thought so.

Therefore, he did not elaborate on it in his paper because he himself did not know how to explain it.

Amid the discussion among the crowd, Li Qiwei continued:
"I believe that many people will feel that Professor Planck's paper is wrong."

“So, it’s not particularly well-known.”

"but!"

“I think the results of this paper are correct!”

“Even at absolute zero, a particle will still vibrate, and the energy of this vibration is its zero-point energy.”

Wow!
The whole audience was shocked!

Everyone thought it was crazy!
"How is this possible?"

"Can particles still vibrate at absolute zero?"

"The definition of absolute zero is that particles no longer vibrate!"

Scholars like the rabbi stared with their eyes wide open, completely puzzled.

Even Planck himself was shocked!
After all, he himself didn't believe the results of the paper and thought that something went wrong in some step.

And now, Bruce actually agreed with his conclusion.

He no longer knew what to say.

Someone couldn't help but murmur:

"how could be?"

Li Qiwei smiled slightly and continued:

"Due to the uncertainty principle, we cannot accurately determine both the position and momentum of a particle at the same time."

"So even if the temperature does reach absolute zero, the particles must still be vibrating."

"Because if the particle doesn't vibrate, then its position and momentum can be precisely determined. Obviously, this violates the uncertainty principle."

"So, particles will still vibrate at absolute zero, and the energy of this vibration is zero-point energy."

"Professor Planck derived this conclusion theoretically, but the uncertainty principle did not exist at the time, so he could not explain it."

"Zero-point energy is not a conjecture, but a natural consequence of the uncertainty principle."

quiet!
Deathly silence!

Everyone was shocked!

Professor Bruce has just combined black holes and quantum mechanics, and now he has combined absolute zero and quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics, is it so awesome?

"I seem to understand!"

"First of all, there is nothing wrong with absolute zero and the uncertainty principle."

"The zero-point energy of a particle is inherent in its quantum properties and exists even at theoretical absolute zero."

"Besides, it is impossible for reality to reach absolute zero, so the zero point of the particle must exist!"

At this moment, everyone was convinced by Professor Bruce's logic.

In addition, the other party even wrote out the entire derivation process by hand.

Ridgeway explained:

"I used the latest quantum mechanics to refine Professor Planck's analysis process."

"So, zero-point energy is the property energy of particles under quantum conditions."

"It has nothing to do with the ambient temperature outside."

Planck became unusually excited.

His old face was full of rosy red color, as if he was drunk and in high spirits.

As the originator of the concept of quantum, he is a well-deserved physics giant.

However, since 1900, due to the rise of countless geniuses, the older generation has almost been forgotten.

They seem to have been left behind by the craze of modern physics.

Especially quantum mechanics, whose birth to perfection was almost entirely accomplished by young people in their twenties and early thirties.

The old guys can't help at all.

Because any area of ​​quantum mechanics is very different from classical physics.

Anyone who has not shattered the three traditional views cannot study quantum mechanics.

Even early quantum giants like Planck were powerless in the face of quantum mechanics.

There is no way, the development is too fast.

The physics ten years ago and the physics ten years later are simply two different subjects.

Such drastic changes are rare in the history of physics and even in the history of science.

In the past, a certain theory would dominate the academic world for hundreds of years.

But now, a paper is published today and is overturned tomorrow.

No matter how powerful a boss is, he can’t handle it.

Planck is no exception.

However, today, his beloved Bruce actually dug out his paper from more than ten years ago and even proved it.

His paper added another boost to the completion of the edifice of quantum mechanics.

What a blessing this is!
Planck was suddenly very moved, and his eyes turned slightly red.

His heart trembled:

"Bruce, you are the only one in this world who truly respects me."

“It’s not about politeness, ethics, or interests, but pure respect.”

"Quantum mechanics is developing so wildly, who will still remember an old man like me?"

Heisenberg was as excited as a child.

Another corollary of the uncertainty principle! Another corollary of matrix mechanics!

Moreover, this theory was proposed by an absolute veteran of their quantum school.

"My matrix mechanics is the most useful!"

Heisenberg screamed in his heart.

In addition, he also put away his contempt.

In his eyes, Planck, Lorentz and others, even his mentor Sommerfeld, were all figures of the previous generation.

Their thinking is out of touch with quantum mechanics and cannot keep up with the times.

Heisenberg arrogantly believed that this was his era.

But now, he was in awe.

Professor Planck discovered zero-point energy before matrix mechanics even appeared.

This is incredible!
This is another theory that transcends its time.

To transcend the times is the highest pursuit of theoretical physicists!
In real history, Planck discovered the weird concept of zero-point energy when he was re-deriving blackbody radiation.

But at that time, he was also confused and didn't know why this thing appeared.

At this moment, after recovering from his emotions, Planck began to think about the next question.

What is the relationship between zero-point energy and the vacuum energy that Bruce mentioned?

Why did Bruce bring up this concept?

Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind.

"Oh my god!"

"Could it be that?"

"This is amazing!"

Not only Planck, but also Einstein, Heisenberg and others had shocked expressions on their faces when they continued to think!
"Could it be?"

"how can that be"

Before they could ask, Li Qiwei took the initiative to speak.

"Okay, we've come a long way."

"Now we can finally answer the question Professor Planck just asked."

“Where does the energy of quantum vacuum fluctuations come from?”

"It's very simple. Since vacuum is real, why can't it have zero-point energy like particles?"

"So I think there is energy in the vacuum itself."

“It is: vacuum zero-point energy!”

"This is the background energy of the vacuum. Even at absolute zero, the vacuum still has energy, similar to the zero-point energy of particles."

"The direct manifestation of vacuum zero-point energy is quantum vacuum fluctuation."

"There is vacuum zero-point energy anywhere in the vacuum of the universe."

"To put it in a more vivid way, the vacuum is like a fluctuating sea of ​​energy, and the waves it creates are quantum vacuum fluctuations."

"And the water in the waves is the virtual particles."

"If the waves are somehow captured by reality, they become real, measurable matter."

"So, the vacuum is not nothing, it's full of energy."

"That's my fourth level of explanation of the vacuum."

boom!
The whole audience was shocked!

The vacuum zero-point energy conjecture drove everyone crazy.

"Oh, God!"

"This is incredible!"

"The vacuum itself actually contains energy!"

"But why can't we feel it?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"."

Everyone found it unbelievable and their worldview was completely shattered.

Li Chengdao was stunned.

He turned his head mechanically and said in disbelief:
"Second brother, you are right again!"

"You think like your father!"

"The vacuum itself has energy."

Li Chengde smiled slightly, hiding his achievements and fame.

"I was just guessing, but my father proved and deduced it theoretically."

"Although it's just a guess, my intuition tells me that it must be right!"

At this moment, whether it was physics giants such as Planck or young scholars such as Rabi, they were all shocked by the zero-point energy of vacuum.

It's so shocking!

(End of this chapter)