A New Physical Model for the Vacuum Field Based on Einstein’s Stimulated Emission Theory

Richard A. Hutchin^*

Optical Physics Company, Calabasas, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/opj.2015.54009                

Abstract

The vacuum electromagnetic field has been a mystery ever since Hedrik Casimir [1] proposed in 1948 that it actually existed and could be measured. Many subsequent experiments [2] have confirmed that its vast field strength (over a terawatt/cm²) is real and matches quantum predictions. Radiation pressures as high as 18 psi have been measured from the reflected vacuum light between plates of 10 nanometer separation. All of this creates a mystery. The electromagnetic field strength is more than a terawatt/cm² everywhere in the universe and yet nothing is melted, ionized or burned up by the field. This paper extracts new insight from Einstein’s famous 1917 paper, credited with the discovery of stimulated emission and still believed today. The result is a practical explanation of the vacuum field and its observed properties.

Keywords

Vacuum Field, Casimir Effect, Stimulated Emission

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Casimir, H. (1948) On the Attraction between Two Perfectly Conducting Plates. Proc. Kon. Nederland. Akad. Wetensch., B51, 793-795.
[2]	Bordag, M., Mohideen, U. and Mostepanenko, V.M. (2001) New Developments in the Casimir Effect. Physics Reports, 353, 1-205. (200+ page review paper) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(01)00015-1
[3]	Lamb, W.E. and Retherford, R.C. (1947) Fine Structure of the Hydrogen Atom by a Microwave Method. Physical Review, 72, 241-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.72.241
[4]	Einstein, A. (1917) Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung (On the Quantum Theory of Radiation). Physika Zeitschrift, 18, 121-128.
[5]	Faria, A.J., Franca, H.M., Gomes, G.G. and Sponchiado, R.C. (2005) The Vacuum Electromagnetic Fields and the Schrodinger Picture. arxiv:quant-ph/0510134v2f. (Faria’s eq. 7 is the same as our equation 2, except in units of Joules/cm3/(radian per second). One must multiply by 2 to get Joule/cm3/Hz and then by c to get watt/cm3/Hz—the units that Einstein uses in his 1917 paper. Faria references Marshall below for a derivation based on 0.5 h of E&M energy per vacuum mode—the minimum energy for a quantum oscillator.)
[6]	Marshall, T.W. (1963) Random Electrodynamics. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 276, 475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1963.0220