https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_particleQuote from wikipedia.org Now, what if we were to generate a sufficiently high positive charge, and interpose plates between the central positive electrode and the incoming pair-produced electrons, such that we capture those electrons and put them to use, then route them from the circuit we're using them in to a second plate spaced closer to the central positive electrode.
We'd be pulling electrons from the quantum vacuum at a high energy, using them for our purposes, then annihilating them on the central electrode. Would there be any net gain from doing so?
The fifth postulate of QM states:
The pair production of particles and antiparticles becomes certain when energy E≫mE≫m is available or when fields are squeezed at distances ℓ≪1/mℓ≪1/m (much) shorter than the Compton wavelength.
This means that, rather than a plate to capture those electrons, we used sharp spikes tapering to an exceedingly fine point (the point would have to be only a single atom in width), we'd have a greater probability of pair production and thus electron capture... we'd have to magnetize the spikes such that the positron of the electron-positron pair was diverted away from the spike and the electron attracted toward it.
Another example is pair production in very strong electric fields, sometimes called vacuum decay. If, for example, a pair of atomic nuclei are merged to very briefly form a nucleus with a charge greater than about 140, (that is, larger than about the inverse of the fine structure constant, which is a dimensionless quantity), the strength of the electric field will be such that it will be energetically favorable to create positron-electron pairs out of the vacuum or Dirac sea, with the electron attracted to the nucleus to annihilate the positive charge.
We'd be pulling electrons from the quantum vacuum at a high energy, using them for our purposes, then annihilating them on the central electrode. Would there be any net gain from doing so?
The fifth postulate of QM states:
The pair production of particles and antiparticles becomes certain when energy E≫mE≫m is available or when fields are squeezed at distances ℓ≪1/mℓ≪1/m (much) shorter than the Compton wavelength.
This means that, rather than a plate to capture those electrons, we used sharp spikes tapering to an exceedingly fine point (the point would have to be only a single atom in width), we'd have a greater probability of pair production and thus electron capture... we'd have to magnetize the spikes such that the positron of the electron-positron pair was diverted away from the spike and the electron attracted toward it.