Sean Carroll
Let's conjure some science up in here. Science is good for the soul. Today: what are "quantum fluctuations," anyway? #qf
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By itself, a system can be static, but observational outcomes are probabilistic. Observe over and over again, get different results.
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That makes us confuse (static) vacuum fluctuations with (dynamical) Boltzmann fluctuations. We think what we see is what really is. #qf
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But quantum mechanics says that what really exists is very different from what we see. In an atom, electrons aren't fluctuating at all.
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All of which is crucial for understanding Boltzmann Brains. A topic for another day. For more see: http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.02780
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Worth pointing out that my discussion of quantum fluctuations betrays my Everettian (many-worlds) sympathies. Your mileage may vary.
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@seanmcarroll I thought vacuum is not static, i.e. the Casimir Effect. The vacuum constantly fluctuates. Can you explain this sentence more? -
@MMylova It is static, just different from the classical vacuum. “Fluctuating” is a bad word for it. See our paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.02780 -
@seanmcarroll Thank you. I will.You seem to work in a time-independent background spacetime, which suits for this type of formulation.
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@seanmcarroll Is this so because we measure the same (static) fluctuations in different locations of time ? -
@seanmcarroll So there's no well-defined, point-like parameter value for things like energy, momentum, position, etc.?
Maria
Jotinar Assembly
Starling-fan
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