3 ms·

This article is pretty much a copy of a much more detailed Scientific American piece posted 3 months ago. I highly recommend it, a great read. The Forgotten My

This article is pretty much a copy of a much more detailed Scientific American piece posted 3 months ago. I highly recommend it, a great read. The Forgotten Mystery of Inertia https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15487928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15487928 Regarding the topic on hand -- Is it possible for the net statistical acceleration of the charged virtual particles of the quantum vacuum to be used as an absolute reference frame in order to gauge absolute velocity/intertial mass? Does anyone know if this idea or similar has ever been tested experimentally?

tim333 9y ago
>Is it possible for the net statistical acceleration of the charged virtual particles of the quantum vacuum to be used as an absolute reference frame in order to gauge absolute velocity/intertial mass? I very much doubt you could use that as an absolute reference frame. It would contradict the ideas of relativity and no one has observed such a thing as far as I know.
- goldenkey 9y ago
  The partial differential equations of relativity consider spacetime and matter/energy to be infinitely divisible. Particles are neither supported nor rejected. Blackholes seem to indicate that relativity performs well in matching reality despite lacking any notion of particles. But who knows..relativity could be at odds when it comes to the vacuum. The reason if any, to think there might be something interesting here-- All objects as they move through the vacuum, leave a disturbance, a "wake" of sorts, in all quantum fields. These disturbances can appear as real particles to some observers, while being virtual particles for others. It may be possible then, for relativity to be satisfied considering this observer-dependent visibility. In fact, perhaps a binary statistical measure on the number of real particles may be the key to getting the absolute measurements.

tim333 9y ago

>Is it possible for the net statistical acceleration of the charged virtual particles of the quantum vacuum to be used as an absolute reference frame in order to gauge absolute velocity/intertial mass? I very much doubt you could use that as an absolute reference frame. It would contradict the ideas of relativity and no one has observed such a thing as far as I know.

goldenkey 9y ago
The partial differential equations of relativity consider spacetime and matter/energy to be infinitely divisible. Particles are neither supported nor rejected. Blackholes seem to indicate that relativity performs well in matching reality despite lacking any notion of particles. But who knows..relativity could be at odds when it comes to the vacuum. The reason if any, to think there might be something interesting here-- All objects as they move through the vacuum, leave a disturbance, a "wake" of sorts, in all quantum fields. These disturbances can appear as real particles to some observers, while being virtual particles for others. It may be possible then, for relativity to be satisfied considering this observer-dependent visibility. In fact, perhaps a binary statistical measure on the number of real particles may be the key to getting the absolute measurements.