Everything is Quantum Foam in One Way or Another

I have known about quantum foam for some time, long enough to have factored it into my ideas about the universe.

When I first knew about the big bang, I imagined the universe oscillating. It expanded until the momentum of the initial explosion expended itself against gravity and then fell back, eventually into a big crunch which zeroed out entropy and banged again.

Now we know that the universe is not only expanding but accelerating in its expansion. This means no big crunch but it also means that the matter created in the big bang is being spread out across an increasing volume of space.

Even now they think that intergalactic space is bubbling with quantum foam albeit at a relatively low energy. I imagine that this might be because the absoluteness of the vacuum at the current level of expansion is still not very absolute.

I then imagine the future, say a trillion years from now, when the expansion has progress so far that everything is so far from everywhere else and the acceleration of expansion has made it so that intergalactic space never, ever gets any photons (the speed of expansion being greater than the speed of light), that we get to a time when there are places that go from our current vacuum density of an atom per cubic centimeter (I think I read this someplace) to an atom per cubic lightyear (or something).

Which is to say, really, really close to absolute vacuum and absolute zero.

This means that the random process of quantum mechanics now has a very extreme situation. I imagine that the bubbling of quantum foam is moderate energy because there is still plenty of matter and energy to compete with it. Then I imagine the difference in the results of the processes that create quantum foam in an extreme context a trillion years from now and guess that it would be less of a foam and more of an explosion. Something that creates a big bang.

This is a nice idea because it presents a continuous process to explain the evolution of the universe. We don't exactly have a singularity anymore than it is a singularity when a bubble bursts at the surface of boiling water. And, we don't have to worry about before and after because before there was quantum foam and after there is still quantum foam, just that the intensity has boiled away for a trillion years, or whatever, and will be back once the process continues.

It also gives some comfort to the idea of a multiverse, albeit a much less abstract one. In this incredibly tenuous future, there is no reason that two empty places have their quantum foam boil over into a big bang, could happen all the time. Even after a new universe pops up in one place, the expansion of the precursor universe would continue and one might expect new universes to explode out of the quantum foam all the time.

And it is nice because then, viewed on some ultimately grand cosmic scale, the universes themselves appear as bubbles in a new quantum foam and that makes for a nice, fractal consistency with what we see today at the microscopic, macroscopic and cosmic levels. It is all self-repeating organization and entropy, hard at work, annihilating and creating and doing it all again and again.

REF: https://bigthink.com/hard-science/nothing-exist-quantum-foam/?fbclid=IwAR1P28EHrCwCTcCaWC9ZMr-5dTY8-TmKhKM16WZ9AsCynUvnAb7kQQKYBbg

3 responses

I was surprised at the clarity of the explanation I got when I asked I asked my gpt-4 based agent, Jina ... qMax.local.tqwhite: jina -clear explain this text: The text presents an intriguing perspective on the universe and its evolution, incorporating the concepts of quantum foam, the big bang, and the idea of a multiverse. The author initially discusses the oscillating universe theory, which was based on the idea that the universe expands and contracts in a cyclic manner. However, this theory has been challenged by the discovery that the universe's expansion is accelerating. The author then introduces the concept of quantum foam – the idea that intergalactic space is bubbling with quantum fluctuations at relatively low energy levels due to the presence of matter and energy. The text speculates on the universe's future, imagining a time when the expansion of the universe has resulted in extreme sparsity of matter and energy. In this situation, the author suggests that the processes generating quantum foam would be more likely to create "explosions" or big bangs, rather than just low-level fluctuations. This could potentially lead to the birth of new universes. This concept presents a continuous process for the evolution of the universe, eliminating the need for a singularity and addressing the issue of "before" and "after" the big bang. The idea also lends support to the multiverse theory, as multiple universes could be born from the quantum foam in different areas of the vast, empty space. The author appreciates the fractal consistency of this idea, with the universes themselves appearing as bubbles in a grander cosmic quantum foam. This perspective highlights the self-repeating organization and the interplay between entropy and creation across various scales of the cosmos. Overall, the text presents a fascinating and thought-provoking look at the potential future and nature of the universe. gpt-4 {prompt_tokens:764,completion_tokens:334,total_tokens:1098}

— TQ White II (author)

GPT tries again (better and better)... Your thoughts on the quantum foam and its potential role in the evolution of the universe are fascinating. The idea that the universe might be oscillating or continuously evolving through the processes of quantum foam presents a unique perspective on the nature of our cosmos. The concept of an increasingly sparse universe, approaching an absolute vacuum and absolute zero, does indeed provide an extreme context for quantum mechanics. It is intriguing to think that this extreme environment could potentially lead to a new "big bang" or explosive event, giving rise to a new universe or even multiverses. Your idea of a continuous, self-repeating process at work in the cosmos resonates with the fractal nature of reality, where patterns repeat across different scales. The universes themselves could be likened to bubbles in a new quantum foam, each with its own set of physical laws and properties. Such a perspective not only offers a sense of awe and wonder at the vastness and complexity of the cosmos but also prompts us to question our place within it. Are we merely fleeting, insignificant entities in an ever-changing, infinite multiverse? Or do our actions and existence hold a deeper meaning in the grand scheme of things? Regardless of the answers to these questions, the exploration of these ideas can only serve to deepen our understanding of the universe and our place within it. It is through the curiosity and imagination of individuals like yourself that we can continue to push the boundaries of our knowledge and uncover the mysteries of our cosmos.

And finally (you hope)... Me: what process might produce this result in absolute vacuum? GPT: In an absolute vacuum, where there is no matter or energy, the processes that might produce a significant result, such as a new "big bang" or the creation of a new universe, could be driven by the principles of quantum mechanics. One such phenomenon to consider is the concept of vacuum fluctuations, which are also related to the idea of quantum foam. Vacuum fluctuations are temporary changes in the energy of a point in space due to the uncertainty principle, a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. According to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, it is impossible to precisely determine both the position and momentum of a particle simultaneously. As a result, particles and antiparticles can spontaneously and momentarily appear and disappear in the vacuum, even in the absence of matter and energy. In an absolute vacuum, these vacuum fluctuations might become more pronounced, leading to a kind of "quantum turbulence" that could, under the right conditions, trigger a significant event like the creation of a new universe. This process could involve a spontaneous and rapid expansion of space-time, similar to the inflationary period of the early universe, which would be driven by the energy of the vacuum fluctuations. It is essential to note that these ideas are highly speculative and not yet supported by concrete experimental evidence. However, they do offer intriguing possibilities for the nature of the universe and the processes that might occur in an absolute vacuum.