Harold 'Sonny' White

You pick up a coffee cup and you push against the door and That's how we think of the world, if you will. But quantum mechanics deals with the microscopic realm, and things are a little bit different. And so that's kind of background. So this peculiar nature that I'm explaining to you, you can actually do an experiment that provides you an observational consequence of this peculiar nature.

And it's called the Casimir force. I think I have a slide in there, Jamie. So the Casimir force can be thought of in the following way. Imagine that you've got two metal plates like you see here in the graphic. You put them very, very close to one another. That separation distance is maybe 100 nanometers. So certainly much smaller than a human hair. Very, very small distance.

And it's called the Casimir force. I think I have a slide in there, Jamie. So the Casimir force can be thought of in the following way. Imagine that you've got two metal plates like you see here in the graphic. You put them very, very close to one another. That separation distance is maybe 100 nanometers. So certainly much smaller than a human hair. Very, very small distance.

And it's called the Casimir force. I think I have a slide in there, Jamie. So the Casimir force can be thought of in the following way. Imagine that you've got two metal plates like you see here in the graphic. You put them very, very close to one another. That separation distance is maybe 100 nanometers. So certainly much smaller than a human hair. Very, very small distance.

And then you imagine you have a vacuum chamber that you put these two small plates in. And then you turn on the vacuum pumps and you pull all of the air out. So there's nothing in there, right? At least that's the way we would think about it. So now we're going to conduct a little thought experiment.

And then you imagine you have a vacuum chamber that you put these two small plates in. And then you turn on the vacuum pumps and you pull all of the air out. So there's nothing in there, right? At least that's the way we would think about it. So now we're going to conduct a little thought experiment.

And then you imagine you have a vacuum chamber that you put these two small plates in. And then you turn on the vacuum pumps and you pull all of the air out. So there's nothing in there, right? At least that's the way we would think about it. So now we're going to conduct a little thought experiment.

We're going to imagine that Jamie has superhero powers and he can shrink himself down to being a wee tiny little atomic person. And we're going to ask him to go into the vacuum chamber. And we're going to ask him to measure the pressure on the outside of the plates and and we're going to ask him to measure the pressure in between the two plates.

We're going to imagine that Jamie has superhero powers and he can shrink himself down to being a wee tiny little atomic person. And we're going to ask him to go into the vacuum chamber. And we're going to ask him to measure the pressure on the outside of the plates and and we're going to ask him to measure the pressure in between the two plates.

We're going to imagine that Jamie has superhero powers and he can shrink himself down to being a wee tiny little atomic person. And we're going to ask him to go into the vacuum chamber. And we're going to ask him to measure the pressure on the outside of the plates and and we're going to ask him to measure the pressure in between the two plates.

And so we're going to expect, based on the normal way we exist, he's going to say zero, zero on the outside, and he's going to say zero in between the two plates. But what he's going to report back is he's going to say zero pressure on the outside, like we expect, but he's going to say there is a negative pressure between the two plates. Well, what the hell is going on?

And so we're going to expect, based on the normal way we exist, he's going to say zero, zero on the outside, and he's going to say zero in between the two plates. But what he's going to report back is he's going to say zero pressure on the outside, like we expect, but he's going to say there is a negative pressure between the two plates. Well, what the hell is going on?

And so we're going to expect, based on the normal way we exist, he's going to say zero, zero on the outside, and he's going to say zero in between the two plates. But what he's going to report back is he's going to say zero pressure on the outside, like we expect, but he's going to say there is a negative pressure between the two plates. Well, what the hell is going on?

Well, the quantum field is full of fluctuating fields and forces. Matter is both a particle and a wave. You may have heard that statement at some point in your life. And so all these little bits of energy, right, they have wavelengths associated with them. And so any wavelength that is bigger than the physical gap of the cavity – it won't be able to manifest between the cavities.

Well, the quantum field is full of fluctuating fields and forces. Matter is both a particle and a wave. You may have heard that statement at some point in your life. And so all these little bits of energy, right, they have wavelengths associated with them. And so any wavelength that is bigger than the physical gap of the cavity – it won't be able to manifest between the cavities.

Well, the quantum field is full of fluctuating fields and forces. Matter is both a particle and a wave. You may have heard that statement at some point in your life. And so all these little bits of energy, right, they have wavelengths associated with them. And so any wavelength that is bigger than the physical gap of the cavity – it won't be able to manifest between the cavities.

So when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, that's our zero reference, when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, And then we add up all the bits of energy in between the two plates. There are less bits of energy because all the bigger wavelengths are excluded. And so there is a deficiency of vacuum energy that manifests between the two plates.

So when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, that's our zero reference, when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, And then we add up all the bits of energy in between the two plates. There are less bits of energy because all the bigger wavelengths are excluded. And so there is a deficiency of vacuum energy that manifests between the two plates.

So when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, that's our zero reference, when we add up all the bits of energy on the outside, And then we add up all the bits of energy in between the two plates. There are less bits of energy because all the bigger wavelengths are excluded. And so there is a deficiency of vacuum energy that manifests between the two plates.

And that results in that negative pressure that wants to pull those two plates together. That's called the Casimir force. A guy by the name of Casimir was a guy that derived that back in 1948. But it took us until the late 90s to actually measure this in the lab to the physics community's satisfaction. And so it's been studied.