quantum fluctuation
Sign in to saveAlso known as quantum vacuum fluctuation, vacuum fluctuation
random change in the energy inside a (typically sub-microscopic) volume
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- physical phenomenon
- Subclass of
- quantum mechanics
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- studied by
- quantum mechanics
- Commons category
- Quantum mechanics
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
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Encyclopedic overview
3D visualization of quantum fluctuations of the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) vacuum
In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (also known as a vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as prescribed by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. They are minute random fluctuations in the values of the fields which represent elementary particles, such as electric and magnetic fields which represent the electromagnetic force carried by photons, W and Z fields which carry the weak force, and gluon fields which carry the strong force.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “quantum fluctuation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.