Image: Philip Krantz / Chalmers
In the Chalmers scientists' experiments, virtual photons bounce off a "mirror" that vibrates at a speed that is almost as high as the speed of light. The round mirror in the picture is a symbol, and under that is the quantum electronic component (referred to as a SQUID), which acts as a mirror. This makes real photons appear (in pairs) in vacuum.
Scientists at Chalmers have succeeded in creating light from vacuum, something that has never been done before.
The phenomenon is known is as the Casimir effect and was first predicted by a physicist about 40 years ago. It had previously not been observed.
According to Chalmers, the main value of the discovery is that it "increases our understanding of basic physical concepts, such as vacuum fluctuations - the constant appearance and disappearance of virtual particles in vacuum. It is believed that vacuum fluctuations may have a connection with "dark energy" which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe."
The results were published last week in the scientific journal Nature.
