/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15043362
Other than being a nuisance in MEMS, it's useless. You can't "extract" energy from the vacuum by cycling.

>>15043404
How come it's useless? Is it because we're unable to extract the energy or is it because it doesn't produce a decent amount? From what I've seen there are functioning zero-point energy generators out there (https://youtu.be/kjElhsvVtBE).). I know this might be fake but I just wanted to make sure.

>>15043426
1. Anything macroscopic (over micrometers) that is called "vacuum, zero-point energy generator" is BS. Casimir effect only is noticeable at very small scales.
2. You can image it like gravity, once you extract the 10^-10 Joules of energy then you're done, it's like a ball falling, it will not go up again by its own and the Casimir effect doesn't stop. To extract energy continuously you would need a cycle, but you can't cycle it and extract energy at the same time, half of the cycle you need to add energy. In the end you only can achieve a net loss, so it's would "consume energy" (needs a energy input) instead of generate. At least in nature you have evaporation and rain that "lifts" the "ball" (water) again.

>>15043362
A roundabout way to account for relativistic van der waals.

>>15043362
>What is zero-point energy?
correct me if I'm wrong but:

Most of the universe is "empty" space. Even atoms have some "empty" space in them.
Nuclear energy comes from the "empty" space inside every atom.
Zero-point energy comes from the "empty" space outside and surrounding atoms.

>>15043623
>Most of the universe is "empty" space. Even atoms have some "empty" space in them.
Got rid of some your mom's empty space ya dig

ZPE is the lowest amount of energy a system can contain, that includes empty space since it's full of quantum fields. Because of quantum mechanics this is not zero.

>>15043426
> I know this might be fake but I just wanted to make sure.
Of course it's fake. All of them are. You can't use ZPE because to do work you have to take energy out of the system, but since there is no energy level lower than ZPE you can't.

>>15043362
>What is zero-point energy?
its a piece of quantum lore invented to make some equation solve for the right number.

>>15043362
The logic is sound: if you need increasing amounts of energy to resolve matter at increasingly smaller scales, then you should be able to theoretically "extract" that energy from the smallest scales of nature.

>>15043648
This. It's literally just a contrivance like renormalization.

>>15043706
which is just as contrived as virtual particles. The list is very long.

Its just dirac electric sea pressure

>>15043362
you can ignore the QM disinformation, what actually happens is that electron repulsion modulates the nucleus and at the right distance it creates a resonance spike in the weak force. The atoms have to be specifically compatible with each other to do this.

If casmir effect were anything to do with vacuum, we would see cold welding a lot more often than we actually do. The fact that its material dependent proves its nothing to do with vacuum energy and everything to do with electron density and lattice structure.

>>15043901
I thought it was the pressure of the virtual particles being created as part of quantum vacuum fluctuations
>the Casimir effect, where forces between metal plates in empty space are modified by the presence of virtual particles
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-virtual-particles-rea

>>15043362
Here's a simple way to explain it
>Plates act like mirrors
>only virtual particles with a wavelength that is a whole number division of the distance between the plates add to the pressure, since the rest cancel each other out when reflected (destructive interference)
>virtual particles outside the plate don't have this limitation, so exert more net pressure
>this results in the plates being pushed inwards