Space-time itself is fluctuating in these regions.”īut this is all hear-say. According to string theorists, this requires an additional six dimensions. Such is space-time for a quantum physicist.Īccording to Eric Perlman of the Florida Institute of Technology, “The ‘bubbles’ in the quantum foam are quadrillions of times smaller than atomic nuclei and last for infinitesimal fractions of a second-or in ‘quantum-speak’, the size of a Planck Length for a Planck Time. There is no such thing as empty space there is only ‘quantum foam,’ everywhere. These regions blink in and out of existence like the bubbles in the foam of a freshly poured beer. Quantum gravity models predict that space-time is a seething foam of tiny regions where minisculenew dimensions unfurl and then furl back in on themselves, spontaneously appearing and disappearing with inconceivable quickness. But if we could zoom in on the quantum realm, we wouldn’t see a smooth expanse of canvas gently distorted by massive bodies. The more massive the body, the more warping. A whole galaxy warps space-time much more. Remember the physics analogy of the trampoline with a bowling ball in the middle? Like that ball, which gently distorts the trampoline’s canvas, the sun warps the smooth ‘canvas’ of space-time enough to make planets move in curved orbits. In his highly successful theory of general relativity, Einstein tells us that energy=mass and mass warps space-time. Theirs is a world wildly different from Einstein’s. In this bizarre realm, matter can be in two places at once electrons can behave as both particles and waves and Schrödinger’s cat can be alive and dead at the same time. To ‘see’ it, you have to dive down the rabbit hole of quantum mechanics - a branch of physics that describes how light and matter behave at atomic scales. It may sound like the name of a new craft beer, but it’s something even more amazing.

Planck length and infinitesimals