Reality of Space

It is difficult to think of empty space as real because we have all been taught that space is a vacuum with no substance but this is not true! Scientists now know that space is built with virtual particles and energy levels that can be measured and used to determine the effects  of travelling through 'space'. For example, light cannot travel through a pure vacuum but the virtual particles provide a mechanism that allows light to be absorbed and re-transmitted by each particle, thus carrying it through 'space'. This would limit the speed of light.

Virtual Particles are created by Quantum Fluctuations described in the following section.

It illustrates 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.

  • Introduction to Quantum Fluctuations and Virtual Particles

 

Physicists have developed a method called lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) that allows the complexities of the strong force to be simulated approximately by computer (thanks to Prof. Leinweber at Adelaide University ). The animation to the left is one of the most recent visualizations of Quantum Chromodynamics, the underlying theory of strong interactions. As a key component of the Standard Model of the Universe, QCD describes the interactions between quarks and gluons as they compose particles such as the proton or neutron. Quarks are the basic elements that build matter, while Gluons are elementary particles that act as the exchange particles for the strong force (hence 'glue') between quarks.  

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZgZI5vymiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TJe1Pr5c9Q

 

Is Space and Matter Real? 

What is Space and Matter?

The concept of Space and Matter is that we tend to see Space as a vacuum where matter and energy exists but this is incorrect. The nature of Space  is formed by Quantum Fluctuations which creates the  Virtual Particles that are the "fabric of space" . These particles are constantly changing but overall there is an average 'normality' of field density across our Universe which also determines the speed of light and other EM waves. 

These particle fields are not just local but link the whole of our Universe together like a gravitational and quantum field web where every interaction affects the whole web of a Universe. 

The mechanics of this interaction has also been shown using quantum mechanics which describes how the cosmos works on the tiniest of scales. 

Contrary to most people's understanding, the created 'space' is not a vacuum of nothingness but has now been shown to be a structure of virtual particles containing energy. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-vacuum-fluctuations-space.html and https://phys.org/news/2019-04-fluctuations-void.html

 

This was confirmed by the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir who showed that that two metal plates placed in what we thought was a 'vacuum' are attracted to each other. It would seem that this cannot be if there is 'nothing' in the 'vacuum' but according to quantum theory, particles constantly appear and disappear there as a result of their interaction with the plates and this is due to quantum vacuum fluctuations (which would need energy, perhaps dark energy to do this). Casimir realised that between two plates, only those virtual photons whose wavelengths fit a whole number of times into the gap should be counted when calculating the vacuum energy. The energy density decreases as the macroscopic gap between plates are moved closer together, which implies that there is a small force drawing them together. The effect is due to the modification of the zero point energy of QED (Quantum ElectroDynamics) when two perfectly conducting plates are put very close to each other.

Changing Your Understanding of Mass

The binding tube of force (gluons) holding the Quarks remains constant, regardless of distance but energy (hence mass) is required to build that tube.

Physicists (2016) have now confirmed that matter is also no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum . The researchers simulated the frantic activity that goes on inside protons and neutrons. These particles provide almost all the mass of ordinary matter. Each proton (or neutron) is made of three quarks – but the individual masses of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton's mass. So what accounts for the rest of it? Theory says it is created by the force that binds quarks together, called the strong nuclear force. In quantum terms, the strong force is carried by a field of virtual particles called gluons, randomly popping into existence and disappearing again. The energy of these vacuum fluctuations has to be included in the total mass of the proton and neutron.  

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Virtual particles exist for a short time. They do not observe conservation of energy. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle applies here.   A better way to say it would be to say that all matter is created from ENERGY, therefore, you can think of "solid" matter (things with mass) as being built with elementary particles, that are made up of quarks, that are made up of energy. 

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Exploring Quantum Fields 

Quantum field theory is an approach in theoretical physics to construct models describing the evolution of particles , in particular their appearance or disappearance during interaction processes. It is therefore not a single theory, but rather a theoretical framework, which takes its name from the combination of the classical notion of field and the principles and tools of relativistic quantum mechanics . According to this approach, attention is focused not on particles, but on fields, penetrating space and considered more fundamental.

Quantum field theory was initially developed to understand high-energy physics phenomena in particle accelerators , which is where it is mainly used today. However, the Feynman diagram below is commonly used in other situations to explain atomic reactions at a basic level and also relates to photons emitted when electrons are caused to change their energy levels.

One of these reactions could be a strong magnetic field which pushes an electron to a higher energy level but when the magnetic field is removed, the electron drops back to its normal level and emits a photon. This is the method used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI scanners today - where the photon emitted has a frequency representing the atom in your body which is detected by sensors in the scanner, thus building an image of your different organ structures according to the different atomic content of the molecules in you body because each atom will emit a different frequency.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI scanner

The Feynman diagram opposite represents the annihilation of an electron and a positron , which produces a photon (represented by a wavy blue line). This photon decomposes into a quark-antiquark pair , and then the antiquark emits a gluon (represented by the green curve). This type of diagram allows both to approximately represent physical processes but also to precisely calculate their properties, such as the collision cross section .

 

Quarks attract each other by a fundamental force, the strong interaction . This is achieved by an exchange of electrically neutral particles, but carrying a color charge , called gluons. There are six types of quarks that form the fermions that the Standard Model theory describes, along with the lepton family , as the elementary constituents of matter.