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Zero-point energy (ZPE) is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have. Unlike in classical mechanics, quantum systems constantly fluctuate in their lowest energy state as described by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. [1] Therefore, even at absolute zero, atoms and molecules retain some vibrational motion.
Absolute zero is the lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale; a state at which the enthalpy and entropy of a cooled ideal gas reach their minimum value. The fundamental particles of nature have minimum vibrational motion, retaining only quantum mechanical, zero-point energy-induced particle motion.
Energy levels for an electron in an atom: ground state and excited states. After absorbing energy, an electron may jump from the ground state to a higher-energy excited state. The ground state of a quantum-mechanical system is its stationary state of lowest energy; the energy of the ground state is known as the zero-point energy of the system.
3D visualization of quantum fluctuations of the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) vacuum [1]. In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (also known as a vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, [2] as prescribed by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
Arthur C. Clarke's novel The Songs of Distant Earth features a starship powered by a "quantum drive" based on aspects of this theory. In the sci-fi television/film franchise Stargate, a Zero Point Module (ZPM) is a power source that extracts zero-point energy from a micro parallel universe. [12]
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle does not allow a particle to exist in a state in which the particle is simultaneously at a fixed location, say the origin of coordinates, and has also zero momentum. Instead the particle has a range of momentum and spread in location attributable to quantum fluctuations; if confined, it has a zero-point energy.
Gravitational energy from visible matter accounts for 26–37% of the observed total mass–energy density. [15] Therefore, to fit the concept of a "zero-energy universe" to the observed universe, other negative energy reservoirs besides gravity from baryonic matter are necessary. These reservoirs are frequently assumed to be dark matter. [16]
The vacuum state is associated with a zero-point energy, and this zero-point energy (equivalent to the lowest possible energy state) has measurable effects. It may be detected as the Casimir effect in the laboratory. In physical cosmology, the energy of the cosmological vacuum appears as the cosmological constant.