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Quantum fluctuation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (or quantum vacuum fluctuation or vacuum


fluctuation) is the temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space,[1]as explained
in Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
According to one formulation of the principle, energy and time can be related by the relation [2]
This allows the creation of particle-antiparticle pairs of virtual particles. The effects of these
particles are measurable, for example, in the effective charge of the electron, different from
its "naked" charge.
In the modern view, energy is always conserved, but the eigenstates of
the Hamiltonian (energy observable) are not the same as (i.e., the Hamiltonian does
not commute with) the particle number operators.
Quantum fluctuations may have been very important in the origin of the structure of the
universe: according to the model of inflation the ones that existed when inflation began were
amplified and formed the seed of all current observed structure. Vacuum energy may also be
responsible for the current accelerated expansion of the universe (cosmological constant).

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