ON PRIMORDIAL FORCE AND DARK MATTER
excerpt from paragraph 2:
“The Tao believes that our Earth is the energy center of the galaxies of our universe. This point of view is supported by the most advanced scientists of today in the field of quantum mechanics. According to quantum theory, one quality of subatomic particles is ‘non-locality.’ Thus, with zero-point fluctuation as the underlying mechanism acting on quantum entities and causing one entity to affect the others—it means that every part of the universe can be in touch with every other part instantaneously. These scientists believe that the ‘Zero Point Field’ is the all-pervasive ground state throughout the universe, including the ‘Dark Matter’.”
There is a giant reservoir of energy that every quantum physicist is well aware of, the Zero Point Field. Quantum mechanics has demonstrated that there is no such thing as a vacuum, or nothingness. What we tend to think of as a sheer void (if all of space were emptied of matter and energy and you examined even the space between the stars) is, in subatomic terms, a hive of activity. Basic Substructure of the Universe: No particle ever stays completely at rest but is constantly in motion due to a ground state field of energy constantly interacting with all subatomic matter. It means that the basic substructure of the universe is a sea of quantum fields that cannot be eliminated by any known laws of physics. What we believe to be our stable, static universe is in fact a seething maelstrom of subatomic particles fleetingly popping in and out of existence.
Virtual Particles: We cannot know both the energy and the lifetime of a particle; so a subatomic event occurring within a tiny time frame involves an uncertain amount of energy. All elementary particles interact with each other by exchanging energy through other quantum particles, which are believed to appear out of nowhere, combining and annihilating each other in less than an instant (10-23 seconds), causing random fluctuations of energy without any apparent cause. The fleeting particles generated during this brief moment are known as ‘virtual particles.’ They differ from real particles because they only exist during that exchange.
Zero-Point Fluctuation: Still Detectable in Temperatures of Absolute Zero. When added across the universe, this subatomic exchange gives rise to enormous energy—more than is contained in all the matter in the entire world. The Zero Point Field was called ‘zero’ because fluctuations in the field are still detectable in temperatures of absolute zero, the lowest possible energy state, where all matter has been removed and nothing is supposedly left to make any motion. Zero-point energy was the energy present in the emptiest state of space at the lowest possible energy, out of which no more energy could be removed—the closest that motion of subatomic matter ever gets to zero. But because of the uncertainty principle there will always be some residual jiggling due to virtual particle exchange. It had always been largely discounted because it is ever-present. In physics equations, most physicists would subtract troublesome zero-point energy away – a process called ‘renormalization.’ Because zero-point energy was ever-present, the theory went, it didn’t change anything. Because it didn’t change anything, it didn’t count.
Quantum Sea of Light: To the quantum physicist, it is an annoyance, to be subtracted away and discounted. To the religious or the mystic, it is science proving the miraculous. What quantum calculations show is that we and our universe live and breathe in what amounts to a sea of motion—a quantum sea of light. What quantum physicists have found is that the energy in the Zero Point Field keeps acting on particles so that they never come to rest but always keep moving, even in conditions at a temperature of absolute zero.
Field: Region of Influence
A field is a matrix or medium which connects two or more points in space, usually via a force, like gravity or electromagnetism. The force is usually represented by ripples in the field, or waves. An electromagnetic field, for example, is simply an electrical field and a magnetic field which intersect, sending out waves of energy at the speed of light. An electric field and a magnetic field form around any electric charge. Both electrical and magnetic fields have two polarities (negative and positive) and both will cause any other charged object to be attracted or repelled. The field is considered that area of space where this charge and its effects can be detected. The notion of an electromagnetic field is simply a convenient abstraction to try to make sense of the seemingly remarkable actions of electricity and magnetism and their ability to influence objects at a distance – and, technically, into infinity – with no detectable substance or matter in between. Simply put, a field is a region of influence.
Constant Exchange: In the quantum world, quantum fields are not mediated by forces but by exchange of energy, which is constantly redistributed in a dynamic pattern. This constant exchange is an intrinsic property of particles, so that even ‘real’ particles are nothing more than a little knot of energy which briefly emerges and disappears back into the underlying field. According to quantum field theory, the individual entity is transient and insubstantial. Particles cannot be separated from the empty space around them.
Field of Fields: Inexhaustible Energy. Fluctuations in the atomic world amount to a ceaseless passing back and forth of energy. This sort of emission and re-absorption of virtual particles occurs not only among photons and electrons, but with all the quantum particles in the universe.
The zero point field is a repository of all fields and all ground energy states and all virtual particles – a field of fields. Every exchange of every virtual particle radiates energy. If you add up all the particles of all varieties in the universe constantly popping in and out of being, you come up with a vast, inexhaustible energy source. To give some idea of the magnitude of this energy source, it has been described thusly: the energy in a single cubic meter of space is enough to boil all the oceans of the world. Explanation for many metaphysical notions. Regarding the wave-particle nature of quantum entities, there is also a larger implication of a vast underlying sea of energy. The existence of the Zero Point Field (ZPF) implies that all matter in the universe is interconnected by waves, which are spread out through time and space and can carry on to infinity, tying one part of the universe to every other part. The idea of the ZPF might just offer a scientific explanation for many metaphysical notions, such as the Chinese belief in the life force, or chi (qi), described in ancient texts as something akin to an energy field. It even echoes the Old Testament’s account of God’s first dictum: ‘Let there be light,’ out of which matter was created. ZPF: Self-Generating Feedback Loop across the Cosmos. The stable state of matter depends for its very existence on this dynamic interchange of subatomic particles with the sustaining zero-point energy field. Electrons lose and gain energy constantly from the Zero Point Field in a dynamic equilibrium, balanced at exactly the right orbit. Electrons get their energy to keep going without slowing down because they are refueling by tapping into these fluctuations of empty space. In other words, the Zero Point Field accounts for the stability of the hydrogen atom – and, by inference, the stability of all matter.
Fluctuations of the Zero Point Field waves drive the motion of subatomic particles, and all the motion of all the particles of the universe in turn generate the Zero Point Field—a sort of self-generating feedback loop across the cosmos. It is a kind of self-regenerating grand ground state of the universe, which constantly refreshes itself and remains a constant unless disturbed in some way. It also means that we and all the matter of the universe are literally connected to the furthest reaches of the cosmos through the Zero Point Field waves of the grandest dimensions.
ZPF: A Mirror Image and Record of Everything That Ever Was. One of the most important aspects of waves is that they are encoders and carriers of information. When two waves are in phase and overlap each other – technically called ‘interference’ – the combined amplitude of the waves is greater than that of the individual amplitudes. The signal gets stronger. This amounts to an imprinting or exchange of information, called ‘constructive interference.’ If one is peaking when the other is troughing, they tend to cancel each other out – a process called ‘destructive interference.’ Once they’ve collided, each wave contains information, in the form of energy coding, about the other, including all the other information it contains. Interference patterns amount to a constant accumulation of information, and waves have a virtually infinite capacity for storage.
As all subatomic matter in the world is interacting constantly with this ambient ground-state energy field, the subatomic waves of the ZPF are constantly imprinting a record of the shape of everything. As the harbinger and imprinter of all wavelengths and all frequencies, the ZPF is a kind of shadow of the universe for all time, a mirror image and record of everything that ever was. In a sense, the vacuum is the beginning and the end of everything in the universe.
Quantum Entities: Mass is an Illusion!
The perspective of recognizing the dynamics of wave-particle fluctuation interactions with the ZPF provides a more refined clarification of Einstein’s famous formula E = mc2. The equation has always implied that energy (one distinct physical entity in the universe) turns into mass (another distinct physical entity). From the ZPF perspective, we now discover that the relationship of mass to energy was more a statement about the energy of quarks and electrons in what we call matter caused by interaction with the Zero Point Field fluctuations. In the language of quantum physics, matter is not a fundamental property of physics. The Einstein equation was simply a recipe for the amount of energy necessary to create the appearance of mass. It means that there aren’t two fundamental physical entities – something material and another immaterial – but only one: energy. Everything in your world, anything you hold in your hand, no matter how dense, how heavy, how large, on its most fundamental level boils down to a collection of electric charges interacting with a background sea of electromagnetic and other energetic fields—a kind of electromagnetic drag force. Mass is not equivalent to energy; mass is energy. Or, even more fundamentally, there is no mass. There is only charge.
The property of inertia possessed by all objects in the physical universe is simply resistance to being accelerated through the Zero Point Field. Inertia is what is termed a Lorentz force – a force that slows particles moving through a magnetic field. In this instance, the magnetic field is a component of the Zero Point Field, reacting with the charged subatomic particles. The larger the object, the more particles it contains and the more it is held stationary by the field.
What this is basically saying is that the corporeal stuff we call matter and to which all physicists since Newton have attributed an innate mass is an illusion. All that was happening was that this background sea of energy was opposing acceleration by gripping on to the subatomic particles whenever you pushed on an object. Mass is a ‘bookkeeping device, a ‘temporary place holder’ for a more general quantum vacuum reaction effect.
What gives an object mass (or inertia) so that it requires an effort to start it moving, and exactly the same effort to restore it to its original state is the fact that so-called empty space is actually a cauldron of seething energies—the Zero Point Field. The implication is that both inertia and gravitation are electromagnetic phenomena resulting from interaction with this field.
Food for Thought
If the Zero Point Field has imprinted everything that ever happened in the world through wave interference encoding. This kind of information might account for coherent particle and field structures. There might also be an ascending ladder of other possible information structures, perhaps coherent fields around living organisms. Maybe this acts as a non-biochemical ‘memory’ in the universe. It might even be possible to organize these fluctuations somehow through an act of will.
The Zero Point Field represents nothing less than a unifying concept of the universe, which shows that everything is in some sort of connection and balance with the rest of the cosmos. The universe’s very currency might be learned information, as imprinted upon this fluid, mutable field of information. The ZPF demonstrates that the real currency of the universe – the very reason for its stability – is an exchange of energy. If we were all connected through the ZPF, then it just might be possible to tap into this vast reservoir of energy information and extract information from it. With such a vast energy bank to be harnessed, virtually anything could be possible—that is, if human beings had some sort of quantum structure allowing them access to it. But there is the stumbling block. That would require that our bodies operated according to the laws of the quantum world.
[The preceding information relating to the Zero Point Field was gleaned from THE FIELD, The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, from Chapter Two ‘The Sea of Light’ by investigative journalist and author Lynne McTaggart; HarperCollins Publishers, Great Britain 2001 and the U.S. edition in 2002; first Quill edition published 2003.]