Casimir effect and virtual particles

Science is in trouble. Long ago, everything observed in the universe was reduced to a hundred atoms, and the atoms themselves were reduced to three particles: a proton, a neutron and an electron. Yes, on closer inspection, it turns out that the neutron and the proton are one and the same. The scientific community still does not understand that these particles can be reduced to a quantum, and the latter, to magnetic and electric fields. We have somehow figured out the substrate, but with the actions of the substrate, the scatter is great. You have to resort to looking for something new, but it is not. We tried to find the Higgs boson, but somehow it doesn’t work. It seems that it appeared in the collider, but they don't know where to adapt it.

Such confusion arises when analyzing the Casimir effect. Everyone believes that this is a quantum phenomenon and it is true. But how it relates to the real quanta that surround us and make up us, no one understands and therefore resort to virtual photons, which are born by the mathematical apparatus and only know about them that they represent a wave function.

There are two Casimir effects: static and dynamic.

In 1948, the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir predicted that if you place two mirror conducting planes in a vacuum, they will be attracted to each other with a force inversely proportional to the distance to the fourth power between them. This force per unit area looks like this:

This is the static Casimir effect.

Where do these forces of attraction come from? It turns out that these are not gravitational forces, but pushing forces. It is assumed that in a vacuum there is a process of constant creation and disappearance of virtual particles. We will proceed from the fact that there are virtual particles, they constantly randomly appear and disappear (fluctuate) and represent a wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation.

It is believed that this electromagnetic field exerts pressure on bodies in this space, in particular on plates placed in a vacuum. It is logical to assume that this pressure is all-round. We place a plate at point A , according to this model, it will be pressured by virtual photons of the force F _c0 . Place at point B the second plate at a distance d ₁ from the first plate (Fig. 1 a) ).

As a result, we get the force acting on the plates F _c . If d ₁ is great, then, in fact, this is the power of F _c0 . The pressure on all sides of the plates is the same and there is no attraction. But now we have moved the plates at a distance d ₂ , equal to several microns, and the attraction between them arose.

The theory says that virtual particles corresponding to certain types of radiation have ceased to appear in the gap between the plates. Namely, those radiation wavelengths, which did not correspond to the multiplicity of the distance, so that they cannot form standing waves between the plates and the forces F _c began to decrease to forces F _k . Since the corresponding number of virtual particles ceased to appear in the gap, their pressure in the gap became less than F _c . Forces F _c - F _k began to converge plates.

This phenomenon even finds analogues. Wikipedia cites the case of two nearby ships.

“ A phenomenon similar to the Casimir effect was observed back in & # 8553; & # 8548; & # 8546; century by French sailors. When two ships, swinging from side to side in conditions of strong waves, but weak winds, found themselves at a distance of less than about 40 meters, then as a result of the interference of waves in the space between the ships, the excitement ceased. The calm sea between the ships created less pressure than the rough sea from the outer sides of the ships. As a result, a force arose, striving to knock the ships side by side ”.

There is not even anything to say here. Maybe so, or maybe the wind is to blame for this, the water has no friction, or there may be waves, as usual, driving everything in their direction. Now they take everything ashore, then they carry it out to the open sea. Perhaps, the flow between the ships was somehow organized, and they began to approach each other. In general, this hardly resembles the Casimir effect.

Closer to this effect is the critical Casimir effect model. In the article “The classical analogue of the Casimir effect is investigated” (CNews) it is said:

“ Predicted in 1978 by Michael Fisher, the critical Casimir effect appears in mixed liquids near the critical point of two-phase liquid-vapor equilibrium. The liquid mixture, approaching the critical point, gradually begins to separate into its constituent parts, the size and shape of which change chaotically like fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in a vacuum ".

Indeed, if ever smaller particles are found between the plates, with less and less range, then the pressure between the plates will be less than on top of the plates and it will seem that the plates are attracted, but, in fact, they are brought together by external pressure. It is more difficult for large particles to get into a very narrow slit, and a large range of them, and all other particles, can be carried out only along, and this does not affect the pressure, i.e. not added to pressure.

As you can see, the mathematical model of the Casimir effect does not coincide in any way with its verbal description. If you rely on a verbal description, then there is no need to increase the force of "attraction". External forces will collide these planes and so with a decrease in internal forces, as in the case of phase division. What is wrong? Not true, what is less formed in the slit of virtual particles and planes are attracted (compressed by external forces) or the Casimir formula? I do not know what prompted Casimir to write this mathematical expression. Is it a consequence of some kind of mathematical transformations or is it some kind of mathematical extrapolation, for example, like the formula for the radiation curve of an absolutely black body in Planck? So after all, when Casimir wrote this formula, there was no experience and it is not known what could be extrapolated. Perhaps the behavior of solutions?

And one more incomprehensible position in this phenomenon. Why should a standing wave exert less pressure on the plate surface than a traveling wave? A standing wave is the sum of a forward traveling wave and a reflected traveling wave. For a standing wave to form, the direct wave must reach the wall and be reflected from it, and this will inevitably lead to the transfer of its momentum to the wall by the wave, which actually forms the pressure. Perhaps, when explaining this effect, one should not speak of standing waves? And, simply, assume that with a very narrow gap, not all particles can fluctuate.

As you can see, it is not so easy to connect Casimir's mathematical prediction with the logic of a real entity (if virtual photons objectively exist).

Does the Hendrik Casimir effect actually exist or not? And if it exists, is it described by such a formula? These questions arise because there are some experimental data and new models. From a modern point of view:

“ it is vacuum fluctuations that generate force interactions between molecules. Therefore, they manifest themselves when bodies of various shapes (not necessarily flat), made of metals or dielectrics, approach each other. The first to find this out half a century ago were the employees of the theoretical department of the Institute for Physical Problems, Evgeny Lifshits, Igor Dzyaloshinsky and Lev Pitaevsky. They also showed that under certain conditions, repulsion comes to replace Casimir's attraction. Reliable experimental confirmation of the existence of such an attraction was obtained in 1997 by Steve Lamoreau, Umar Mohidin and Anushri Roy. Casimir repulsive forces were first experimentally measured in 2009 by a group led by Jeremy Munday ”.

As you can see, in some cases there can be a repulsion to the place of attraction. What is the matter here we will try to understand from a quantum standpoint.

While the plates are far from each other, each side of it is in a dynamically equilibrium state with the external environment. The plates emit and absorb certain photons and are in the same thermal regime and in the same gravitational relationship with the external environment. Dynamic balance is easy to check. Place your finger on the plate. In most cases, it will seem to you either warm or cold, because it is quite difficult to equalize the temperatures of the finger and the plate, it takes time. While the finger is in contact with the plate, it either heats up or cools down. Thermal equilibrium is disturbed. But it will recover again if you remove your finger or recover at a different energy level if you keep your finger on the plate.

If the surrounding mass changes in the experience zone (something was brought or taken away, someone came, moved, rearranged a chair, etc.), then the gravitational environment will also change. It seems that rarely anyone will doubt this, since everyone believes that all bodies are attracted to each other by the gravitational field. The only problem is that no one knows what it is gravitation , and, of course, it will not soon be believed that this is ordinary resonant absorption of photons. The obvious seems unlikely.

And so, let's increase our plates to the atomic level (Fig. 2).

On the surface of the plate, we will see the nuclei of atoms with electrons moving around them. And for us it is not important in what interpretation of the electrons: Bohr or Schredinger. It is important that they emit and absorb energy - photons . Depending on the material of the plates, atoms can be arranged in regular structures in crystal lattices or they can have an irregular structure, for example, amorphous bodies. Of course, the density of tension even within an atom has different gradients in directions, and not as even as in the figure.

It should not be taken into account here that the atom is neutral. At long distances, it is really neutral, and when you approach it, then more and more negative electric field will be detected, in the region of electrons it will be maximum. And as we approach the nucleus, we will observe a positive electric field. It is important for us that the electron on the branch a receives additional acceleration, due to the fact that it passes from the region of greater tension to the region of lower intensity, as a result of which it accelerates and emits And when moving along the branch b it slows down and, as a result, absorbs energy. The quality of the absorbed and emitted photon depends on the connectivity of the electron, that is, on the substance. An electron can generate and absorb photons of various energies and polarizations. An atom always contains electrons with opposite spins, therefore, there are two polarizations of photons. Free electrons can also be in the same states. We do not know which electrons emit and what exactly emit, in this or that substance.

And so what we have. At a large distance, the fields of the plates interact weakly with each other. Thermal and gravitational photons are emitted and absorbed. We do not know which of the photons are gravitational. We can only assume that either these photons are of low energy, or they are simply not enough, because at large distances we cannot detect the force of attraction from the gravitational interaction.

When we bring the plates closer together, their electric fields begin to interact more strongly. The field of each plate compresses the field of the opposite plate. The atomic nuclei of the plates are fixed by the crystal lattice, and the electric negative field is “pressed” by the opposite field of the other plate into the depths of the plates. The gradient of tension on the branches a and b grows, the acceleration of the electron increases, and it begins to generate photons of higher energy. It is possible that the changed field introduces into the process of emission and absorption other electrons, which were previously passive.

From this, it can be assumed that an increase in the energy of photons and an increase in their number leads to an increase in the force of attraction of the plates. And since the plates attract each other, it can be assumed that these forces act as double gravity, so it is inversely proportional to the 4th power of the distance.

Since photons can be generated with different polarizations, not only attraction, but also repulsion is possible. It all depends on the ratio of resonant photons and their corresponding electrons. Because of this, there may be some neutral position. A plate of some substance can attract a plate of one substance, repel an object from another substance, and be neutral to an object from a third substance. This is how all atoms and molecules in the universe interact with each other.

And one more such remark. If you ask a question to any scientist or on the Internet: what interactions exist in nature? you will receive in response - in nature there is a strong (nuclear interaction), weak, electromagnetic and gravitational. Science knows no other interactions. To what type should the interaction of virtual particles and real plates be attributed? To the electromagnetic one? Then it should be recognized that the electromagnetic wave attracts. And this is true. And this is nothing but gravity.

The models of this or that phenomenon that I propose is essentially a translation of phenomena from the classical atomic-molecular language into a quantum language. This is a new business, of course, I do not know the languages perfectly, and there may be a lot of mistakes or not an accurate translation at all. Only a misinterpretation of phenomena outside the quantum realm forces me to undertake such translations.