The quantum vacuum at the foundations of classical electrodynamics |
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Authors: | G Leuchs A S Villar L L Sánchez-Soto |
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Institution: | 1. Max Planck Institut für die Physik des Lichts, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1/Bau 24, 91058, Erlangen, Germany 2. Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik, Universit?t Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 7/B2, 91058, Erlangen, Germany 3. Departamento de óptica, Facultad de Física, Universidad Complutense, 28040, Madrid, Spain
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Abstract: | In the classical theory of electromagnetism, the permittivity ε
0 and the permeability μ
0 of free space are constants whose magnitudes do not seem to possess any deeper physical meaning. By replacing the free space
of classical physics with the quantum notion of the vacuum, we speculate that the values of the aforementioned constants could
arise from the polarization and magnetization of virtual pairs in vacuum. A classical dispersion model with parameters determined
by quantum and particle physics is employed to estimate their values. We find the correct orders of magnitude. Additionally,
our simple assumptions yield an independent estimate for the number of charged elementary particles based on the known values
of ε
0 and μ
0 and for the volume of a virtual pair. Such an interpretation would provide an intriguing connection between the celebrated
theory of classical electromagnetism and the quantum theory in the weak-field limit. |
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Keywords: | |
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