| | Q: | This is more than likely absurd, but I heard that the symmetry breaking that produced the universe should have had much more energy released in the process...The line of reasoning being that the energy density of free space is therefore quite large and that by cleverly creating an open system, it could be possible to extract zero point energy...These guys (Moray B. King) were looking at concepts like noise from diodes, all the way up to balls of plasma.
Is there anything to this at all? If you were to create some sort of self sustaining dynamo action, could it be checked for anomalous energy?
-Deon (age 23)
Lansing | | | A: |
We do not know whether the vacuum is in its lowest possible energy state. It is possible that it isn't, which is one way of accounting for the dark energy driving accelerating expansion of the universe. Perhaps in some far distant future it will switch to an entirely different state via a phase transition, essentially wiping out whatever was there beforehand. That may have happened once already in an early inflationary era.
And no, the claims that fooling around with plasma balls or diodes will access this hypothetical energy source have absolutely nothing to support them. No experimental evidence, no actual theoretical arguments, nothing.
Mike W.
(published on 10/21/09) |
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