Three fun vocab terms from the edge of reality
I've learned three really cool new phrases lately, in my studies of the nature of void!
(shut up, we've all got hobbies)
1. Spacetime foam: The term for what space and time look like on a quantum (teeeeeeeeny) level, such as in the first moments after the big bang, when they (space and time) blur together in a way that scientists assure us is way way harder to imagine than you think. (Challenge accepted!)
2. Quantum gravity: A term for the "unified theory" of physics. Currently there are two major theories that seem to work - quantum mechanics (which ignores gravity but makes the numbers work otherwise) and general relativity (which explains/mathematically factors in gravity but doesn't make the physical mechanics work at a quantum level). A "unified theory" would involve making both theories work at once, and thus gets the catchy-to-the-point-of-sounding-fake name of "quantum gravity".
3. Seething vacuum: A great term for how quantum physicists think of vacuum and the void. This phrase recognizes that all emptiness is singing with the vibrations of quantum energy - the zero-point field, if you, like me, miss that cool term too. Because of ZP energy, a vacuum may be "empty" but it is not silent or still, and its "seething" produces motion, which in turn affects the path of electrons and other particles passing through it. It's a really cool look at the boundary of energy and matter, and the place at which the "zero becomes one" in the Chinese sense. Plus, band name, am I right?
Originally published at counterclockwise. You can comment here or there.