JimD
01-08-2011, 06:37 AM
--------- #1237 - How Vacuum Energy is Affecting Nanotechnology and Expanding the Universe at the same time?
- The picture below is that of a tiny ball 200 micrometers in diameter balanced on the probe of an atomic force microscope. Placed in a vacuum and reduced to temperatures of near Absolute Zero a small force remains. It is a Vacuum Force that we are just beginning to measure and may even be the Dark Energy that is accelerating the expansion of the Universe.
- Attachments - Atomic Force Microscope.
- The force between the gold plated polystyrene ball and the gold plated metal plate is very small but it is not the force of an electric charge, it is not the force of magnetism, it is not the force of gravity because it is repulsive not attractive, all that is left is the force in the vacuum of space itself. It is called the Casimir Force. It exists at only the very smallest of distances. But, at the same time it may be expanding space throughout the Universe. We call the cosmic force expanding the Universe at an ever accelerating rate Dark Energy. It is also called Vacuum Energy intrinsic in the vacuum of free space.
- The Casimir Force was first discovered in 1948 when scientists were trying to understand why mayonnaise and molasses flowed so slowly. Slow as molasses then, yet expanding the Universe faster than the speed of light now. In 1948 Hendrik Casimir was studying “colloidal solutions” to try to learn why neutral atoms in molasses has a mutual attraction that caused them to flow so slowly compared to other free flowing solutions. He decided that it was an attractive force in the vacuum of space between the atoms, or molecules.
- Casimir tried to measure this attractive force in a vacuum by hanging two parallel plates very close together without touching. Sure enough a repulsive was found. Each plate was perfectly smooth. Each plate was perfectly parallel to the other plate. Each was 1 square centimeter in area and separated by only 1,000 nanometers. The force measured was 10^-7 Newtons. That is 0.0000001 kilograms * meters / seconds^2. To explain these units for a Newton of force remember that Energy is a Force operating over a distance. Or, a Force is Energy / distance. E=mc^2 helps us to remember that units for Energy is kilograms * meters^2/seconds^2. To get the units for Force we divide by distance to get kilograms*meters / seconds^2, which are called Newtons of Force. Of course 0.0000001 Newtons is a very small force.
- The experiment ran into many difficulties working at such small distances. The plates were not perfectly smooth. They could not be held perfectly parallel. But, the results concluded that the Casimir Force was proportional to the Area and inversely proportional to the 4<SUP>th</SUP> power of the gap distance.
----------------------- Casimir Force = Area / (distance)^4
------------------------ F = A / d^4
- If the gap was reduced by a factor of 2, the Casimir Force increased by a factor of 16.
The force measured was about equivalent to the weight of a small water droplet one millimeter in diameter. If we continued the experiment and reduced the gap to 10 nanometers ( about the distance of 100 atoms in line side-by-side) then the force would equal 1 atmosphere, or about 14.7 pounds per square inch.
- It is estimated that these difficult measurements are only within 15% of the theoretical value for the Casimir Force. Similar difficulties were encountered in trying to measure the force of gravity at these dimensions. The force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the masses. But, science has only been able to make these measurements down to distances of 220,000 nanometers. But, the formula for gravity still seems to hold true:
---------------------- Force of Gravity = G * m * M / d^2
--------------------- G is the Gravitational Constant for the units measured
--------------------- “m” and “M” are the two masses
--------------------- “d” is the distance between the centers of the two masses.
- The theoretical equation for the Casimir Force is:
------------------- Casimir Force = pi * h * c / 480 * d^4
--------------------- pi = 3.14
--------------------- h = Planck’s Constant = 6.625 * 10^-34 kilograms * meters^2 / second.
--------------------- c = the speed of light = 300,000,000 meters / second.
--------------------- d = the gap distance = 0.001 meters.
- The atomic force microscope pictured below making the Casimir measurement reduced the gap to 1 millimeter. The 0.2 millimeter sphere was chosen because of the difficulty in keeping plates parallel and equal distant during the measurement. The sphere made the calculations more difficult but the physical experiment easier to control. The Casimir Force that flexed the microscope probe was measured by a laser beam. The Force measured was withing 1% of the theoretical value.
------------------ Casimir Force = 3.14 * 6.625*10^-34 * 3* 10^8 / 480 * (10^-3)^4
----------------- Casimir Force = 10^-14 Newtons.
- This is a very small number. You can see how difficult this measurement must be. What would explain such a force coming from a perfect vacuum of free space? The vacuum is absent of all matter, but, it is not absent of all fields. The electromagnetic fields and the gravitational fields travel freely through a vacuum. According to Quantum Mechanics all particles are waves and have a wave-particle duality. All particles have fluctuations with wave like properties. The same is true of all fields. All fields have fluctuations at the quantum level that can be described as waves. Fields jitter back and forth, to and fro, as a wave of energy. In free space all wave frequencies and their wavelengths are equivalent and radiate in all directions.
- However, in a cavity, or in a small gap between objects, the waves reflect back and forth. It the wavelengths are integer multiples equal to the size of the cavity, or the size of the gap, they reinforce each other and cancel each other becoming Standing Waves. Standing Waves can amplify the magnitude of the original waves. This is how lasers and microwave ovens work. The Standing Waves increase in energy and create a force on the objects, or the boundaries causing their reflections. The Casimir Force is believed to be created by the fluctuations of the fields in free space itself.
- Let’s look at the theoretical formula for the Casimir Force, F:
-------------------------------- F = pi * h * c / 480 * d^4
- Energy is equal to a force operating over a distance. E = F*d
- A force is a push or a pull. F = E / d
- “h” is Planck’s Constant for the energy packet of a single photon of electromagnetic energy.
- The Energy of a photon of electromagnetic energy is equal to “h” * frequency. E = h * f
- “c” is the velocity of light and of electromagnetic and gravitational energy. Velocity = distance / time. c = wavelength * frequency. c = w * f. Or, f = c / w
- Now, substituting into these equations and using the distance, “d”, for the wavelength “w“, or multiples of the wavelength, “w” we get:
----------------------- F = E / d
----------------------- F = h * f / d
----------------------- F = h * c / d^2
- And if the force is like gravity, spreading out like the surface of a sphere whose area expands as 4 pi * r^2. following the inverse square law as the force is dissipates with distance, then:
------------------------ F = h * c / d^4
- So, if you followed all this you can see the relationships of Casimir Force being proportional to the energy of electromagnetic waves, the speed of the electromagnetic energy, and inversely proportional to the distance to the 4<SUP>th</SUP> power. We have not quite derived the formula but we can see that the equation for the Casimir Force makes some sense with the fluctuations of Vacuum Energy.
- Science does not have an explanation for what Dark Energy is. It could be created by Vacuum Fluctuations. Everything in Quantum Mechanics reduces to waves, including fields. Waves where any point in time is according to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle a probability. The waves uncertainty keeps fluctuating, jittering. The jittering applies to the position and velocity of waves and particles and ,as well, it applies to the energy and time of measurement to waves and particles. These same Vacuum Fluctuations are believed to provide the energy that exists in all of free space.
- In a free vacuum there are no atoms ( See footnote 1). However, the vacuum fluctuations of many frequencies still exist. If frequencies are free to propagate in all directions the vacuum forces average out. However, if the frequencies are in a gap with boundaries then certain frequencies can produce standing waves at integer multiples of the gap. The waves become amplified or suppressed depending on their wavelengths corresponding to the gap’s resonance frequency. The Casimir force will push boundaries apart if fluctuations are in resonance. The same field pressure will pull boundaries together if the gap boundaries cause the field pressure to be out of resonance.
- The Casimir Force and the Dark Energy are ideas, not proven realities in science today. The evidence and theories are intriguing and discoveries are sure to be made. Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Vacuum Fluctuations exist inside the atom which is mostly free space. An atom is 0.1 nanometers in diameter. When an atom is in an excited state it will not remain there for long. Energy always seeks its lowest level. Vacuum fluctuations in the free space between electrons will eventually cause the high energy electron to release its photon of energy and drop to a lower energy level. The frequency of the photon is always according to E = h * f, to match the exact amount energy it takes to jump the energy gap inside the atom.
(2) The fields involved in Vacuum Fluctuations may not be electromagnetic fields. They could be gravitational fields. We think the force of gravity is constant. But, the force of gravity could be different at very small distances, or, at very large distances. So far, the force is too weak and the distances too small for science to discover any violation to the inverse square law for gravity. If it is discovered to not be a universal constant this could drastically change our understanding of forces affecting atoms and forces affecting distant galaxies as well.
(3) Vacuum Fluctuations could be created by neither electromagnetic fields nor gravitational fields. They could be created by Higgs Fields. Higgs Fields are theoretical fields that cause objects to have mass. Inertial mass of objects can be described as an object moving though molasses that creates its inertia and slows its change in motion. Photons are the force carriers for the electromagnetic force. Higgs Bosons are believed to be the force carriers for the Higgs Field that creates mass. The Large Hadron Collider in CERN, Switzerland, is a particle accelerator that hopes to discover the Higgs Boson particle. Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly. I bet you are surprised that pouring syrup over pancakes could generate this much scientific thought?????
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copy to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email. Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: [email protected] ([email protected]). or, use www.facebook.com (https://www.facebook.com/), or , www.twitter.com (https://www.twitter.com/).
707-536-3272, [email protected] ([email protected]) Saturday, January 8, 2011
- The picture below is that of a tiny ball 200 micrometers in diameter balanced on the probe of an atomic force microscope. Placed in a vacuum and reduced to temperatures of near Absolute Zero a small force remains. It is a Vacuum Force that we are just beginning to measure and may even be the Dark Energy that is accelerating the expansion of the Universe.
- Attachments - Atomic Force Microscope.
- The force between the gold plated polystyrene ball and the gold plated metal plate is very small but it is not the force of an electric charge, it is not the force of magnetism, it is not the force of gravity because it is repulsive not attractive, all that is left is the force in the vacuum of space itself. It is called the Casimir Force. It exists at only the very smallest of distances. But, at the same time it may be expanding space throughout the Universe. We call the cosmic force expanding the Universe at an ever accelerating rate Dark Energy. It is also called Vacuum Energy intrinsic in the vacuum of free space.
- The Casimir Force was first discovered in 1948 when scientists were trying to understand why mayonnaise and molasses flowed so slowly. Slow as molasses then, yet expanding the Universe faster than the speed of light now. In 1948 Hendrik Casimir was studying “colloidal solutions” to try to learn why neutral atoms in molasses has a mutual attraction that caused them to flow so slowly compared to other free flowing solutions. He decided that it was an attractive force in the vacuum of space between the atoms, or molecules.
- Casimir tried to measure this attractive force in a vacuum by hanging two parallel plates very close together without touching. Sure enough a repulsive was found. Each plate was perfectly smooth. Each plate was perfectly parallel to the other plate. Each was 1 square centimeter in area and separated by only 1,000 nanometers. The force measured was 10^-7 Newtons. That is 0.0000001 kilograms * meters / seconds^2. To explain these units for a Newton of force remember that Energy is a Force operating over a distance. Or, a Force is Energy / distance. E=mc^2 helps us to remember that units for Energy is kilograms * meters^2/seconds^2. To get the units for Force we divide by distance to get kilograms*meters / seconds^2, which are called Newtons of Force. Of course 0.0000001 Newtons is a very small force.
- The experiment ran into many difficulties working at such small distances. The plates were not perfectly smooth. They could not be held perfectly parallel. But, the results concluded that the Casimir Force was proportional to the Area and inversely proportional to the 4<SUP>th</SUP> power of the gap distance.
----------------------- Casimir Force = Area / (distance)^4
------------------------ F = A / d^4
- If the gap was reduced by a factor of 2, the Casimir Force increased by a factor of 16.
The force measured was about equivalent to the weight of a small water droplet one millimeter in diameter. If we continued the experiment and reduced the gap to 10 nanometers ( about the distance of 100 atoms in line side-by-side) then the force would equal 1 atmosphere, or about 14.7 pounds per square inch.
- It is estimated that these difficult measurements are only within 15% of the theoretical value for the Casimir Force. Similar difficulties were encountered in trying to measure the force of gravity at these dimensions. The force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the masses. But, science has only been able to make these measurements down to distances of 220,000 nanometers. But, the formula for gravity still seems to hold true:
---------------------- Force of Gravity = G * m * M / d^2
--------------------- G is the Gravitational Constant for the units measured
--------------------- “m” and “M” are the two masses
--------------------- “d” is the distance between the centers of the two masses.
- The theoretical equation for the Casimir Force is:
------------------- Casimir Force = pi * h * c / 480 * d^4
--------------------- pi = 3.14
--------------------- h = Planck’s Constant = 6.625 * 10^-34 kilograms * meters^2 / second.
--------------------- c = the speed of light = 300,000,000 meters / second.
--------------------- d = the gap distance = 0.001 meters.
- The atomic force microscope pictured below making the Casimir measurement reduced the gap to 1 millimeter. The 0.2 millimeter sphere was chosen because of the difficulty in keeping plates parallel and equal distant during the measurement. The sphere made the calculations more difficult but the physical experiment easier to control. The Casimir Force that flexed the microscope probe was measured by a laser beam. The Force measured was withing 1% of the theoretical value.
------------------ Casimir Force = 3.14 * 6.625*10^-34 * 3* 10^8 / 480 * (10^-3)^4
----------------- Casimir Force = 10^-14 Newtons.
- This is a very small number. You can see how difficult this measurement must be. What would explain such a force coming from a perfect vacuum of free space? The vacuum is absent of all matter, but, it is not absent of all fields. The electromagnetic fields and the gravitational fields travel freely through a vacuum. According to Quantum Mechanics all particles are waves and have a wave-particle duality. All particles have fluctuations with wave like properties. The same is true of all fields. All fields have fluctuations at the quantum level that can be described as waves. Fields jitter back and forth, to and fro, as a wave of energy. In free space all wave frequencies and their wavelengths are equivalent and radiate in all directions.
- However, in a cavity, or in a small gap between objects, the waves reflect back and forth. It the wavelengths are integer multiples equal to the size of the cavity, or the size of the gap, they reinforce each other and cancel each other becoming Standing Waves. Standing Waves can amplify the magnitude of the original waves. This is how lasers and microwave ovens work. The Standing Waves increase in energy and create a force on the objects, or the boundaries causing their reflections. The Casimir Force is believed to be created by the fluctuations of the fields in free space itself.
- Let’s look at the theoretical formula for the Casimir Force, F:
-------------------------------- F = pi * h * c / 480 * d^4
- Energy is equal to a force operating over a distance. E = F*d
- A force is a push or a pull. F = E / d
- “h” is Planck’s Constant for the energy packet of a single photon of electromagnetic energy.
- The Energy of a photon of electromagnetic energy is equal to “h” * frequency. E = h * f
- “c” is the velocity of light and of electromagnetic and gravitational energy. Velocity = distance / time. c = wavelength * frequency. c = w * f. Or, f = c / w
- Now, substituting into these equations and using the distance, “d”, for the wavelength “w“, or multiples of the wavelength, “w” we get:
----------------------- F = E / d
----------------------- F = h * f / d
----------------------- F = h * c / d^2
- And if the force is like gravity, spreading out like the surface of a sphere whose area expands as 4 pi * r^2. following the inverse square law as the force is dissipates with distance, then:
------------------------ F = h * c / d^4
- So, if you followed all this you can see the relationships of Casimir Force being proportional to the energy of electromagnetic waves, the speed of the electromagnetic energy, and inversely proportional to the distance to the 4<SUP>th</SUP> power. We have not quite derived the formula but we can see that the equation for the Casimir Force makes some sense with the fluctuations of Vacuum Energy.
- Science does not have an explanation for what Dark Energy is. It could be created by Vacuum Fluctuations. Everything in Quantum Mechanics reduces to waves, including fields. Waves where any point in time is according to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle a probability. The waves uncertainty keeps fluctuating, jittering. The jittering applies to the position and velocity of waves and particles and ,as well, it applies to the energy and time of measurement to waves and particles. These same Vacuum Fluctuations are believed to provide the energy that exists in all of free space.
- In a free vacuum there are no atoms ( See footnote 1). However, the vacuum fluctuations of many frequencies still exist. If frequencies are free to propagate in all directions the vacuum forces average out. However, if the frequencies are in a gap with boundaries then certain frequencies can produce standing waves at integer multiples of the gap. The waves become amplified or suppressed depending on their wavelengths corresponding to the gap’s resonance frequency. The Casimir force will push boundaries apart if fluctuations are in resonance. The same field pressure will pull boundaries together if the gap boundaries cause the field pressure to be out of resonance.
- The Casimir Force and the Dark Energy are ideas, not proven realities in science today. The evidence and theories are intriguing and discoveries are sure to be made. Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Vacuum Fluctuations exist inside the atom which is mostly free space. An atom is 0.1 nanometers in diameter. When an atom is in an excited state it will not remain there for long. Energy always seeks its lowest level. Vacuum fluctuations in the free space between electrons will eventually cause the high energy electron to release its photon of energy and drop to a lower energy level. The frequency of the photon is always according to E = h * f, to match the exact amount energy it takes to jump the energy gap inside the atom.
(2) The fields involved in Vacuum Fluctuations may not be electromagnetic fields. They could be gravitational fields. We think the force of gravity is constant. But, the force of gravity could be different at very small distances, or, at very large distances. So far, the force is too weak and the distances too small for science to discover any violation to the inverse square law for gravity. If it is discovered to not be a universal constant this could drastically change our understanding of forces affecting atoms and forces affecting distant galaxies as well.
(3) Vacuum Fluctuations could be created by neither electromagnetic fields nor gravitational fields. They could be created by Higgs Fields. Higgs Fields are theoretical fields that cause objects to have mass. Inertial mass of objects can be described as an object moving though molasses that creates its inertia and slows its change in motion. Photons are the force carriers for the electromagnetic force. Higgs Bosons are believed to be the force carriers for the Higgs Field that creates mass. The Large Hadron Collider in CERN, Switzerland, is a particle accelerator that hopes to discover the Higgs Boson particle. Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly. I bet you are surprised that pouring syrup over pancakes could generate this much scientific thought?????
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copy to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email. Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: [email protected] ([email protected]). or, use www.facebook.com (https://www.facebook.com/), or , www.twitter.com (https://www.twitter.com/).
707-536-3272, [email protected] ([email protected]) Saturday, January 8, 2011