Vacuum Fluctuations

Abstract

As stated by Milonni [370, p. xiii] and others [174, 195], “ … there is no vacuum in the ordinary sense of tranquil nothingness. There is instead a fluctuating quantum vacuum.” One of the observable vacuum effects is the spontaneous emission of radiation [565]: “ … the process of spontaneous emission of radiation is one in which “particles” are actually created. Before the event, it consists of an excited atom, whereas after the event, it consists of an atom in a state of lower energy, plus a photon.”