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Zero-Point Field Induced e+e- Pair Creation for Energy Production

Idea Conceived on 11/24/96


Draft Finished on 6/2/99
Paper Finished on 2/25/13

Javier O. Trevino
Physicist
Innovative Energy Technologies
3402 LeBlanc
San Antonio TX 78247
210-601-0655
jtrevinoaff@gmail.com


Abstract
It has recently been demonstrated that strong electric fields induce e+e- pair production.
An isolated monochromatic zero-point field although stochastic in nature, has pockets of
organized photons which may mimic strong transient electric fields. These pockets of
strong virtual fields manifest themselves at predictable rates. The resulting pair
production/annihilation rate is used to calculate an energy production rate based on the
pair annihilation energy. Energy production rates on the order of MW/m
3
should result
from isolating a zero-point field in the 10
-12
to 10
-15
m region of the zero-point spectrum.



Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of modifying the zero-point vacuum
field to mimic e+e- pair producing critical electric fields. As the pairs annihilate, they
create real photons that can be used as energy. I calculate the energy production rate as a
function of zero-point spectra and find the critical wavelength which produces useable
rates of energy production.

Background
The idea of extracting energy from empty space may seem like a fantasy, but modern
scientists are exploring that very idea. Current theories include various schemes to use or
capture the zero-point field (e.g. Casimir effect mechanics). While this is a reasonable
theme, I propose a new theme by asking; What about the seething mass of virtual
particle/antiparticle pairs that are a property of the quantum vacuum? If we can extract
e+e- pairs from the quantum vacuum, this would present us with an inexauhstable source
of fuel. The question is, how do we extract these particles?

Schwinger predicted that a sufficiently strong field will cause the vacuum to
spontaneously break down and release particle/antiparticle pairs [4]. When the vacuum is
under the influence of a sufficiently strong field, the vacuum decays to its lowest state by
releasing particles.

It is currently possible to raise these particles out of their virtual existence by applying a
sufficiently strong field (gravitational or electromagnetic). Hawking radiation is one
example of how a strong gravitational field can cause the vacuum to release particles.
There are experiments being conducted with Hi-Z nucleons in which the collision of two
nuclei produces a transient critical electric field on the surface of the nucleus. The field
is strong enough to cause a spontaneous breakdown of the vacuum thereby releasing
particles. Recently, experiments with a polarized high irradiance Laser succeded in
producing electric fields strong enough to induce a breakdown of the vacuum releasing
particles from seemingly out of nowhere. These examples indicate that strong field
experiments are consistent with Schwingers 1951 prediction that strong fields will
precipitate matter-anti-matter pairs [4].

These methods are a demostration of the reality of strong field pair creation scenarios.
However, the energy and bulk required for the effect is impractical for compact, portable
power applications. Additionally, the production rate is many orders of magnitude
smaller than what is needed to support realistic energy needs. What we need is a way to
mimic the pair producing effects of a strong field in a reasonably compact device. The
resulting pair annihilation energy density rate should approach the MW/m
3
range.
Additionally, the device must mimic strong fields with minimal energy input to the
device.

Although this seems to imply an over-unity efficiency device, this is not necessarily the
case. The device should consume very little energy to liberate the matter/antimatter fuel.
Consider a scenario with a large battery. Suppose the battery is equipped with a
normally-open switch. It only takes a few ergs of energy to close the switch, but once
you close it, huge quantities of energy flow through the circuit. However, once the
switch is opened, the energy flow stops. This proposal is very similar. The e+e- pairs are
there waiting for someone to open the vacuum. We already know how to open the
vacuum (Strong Fields). The question is how do we keep the vacuum open?
Specifically, how do we mimic strong electric fields indefinitely?

Strong electric fields are produced by super-dense charge densities, or rapidly changing
magnetic fields. One method utilizes a particle accelerator to slam heavy nuclei together
resulting in densely charged quasi-nuclei that create intense fields at the surface of the
nuclei. Another method uses intense laser pulses slamming into dense electron beams
resulting in backscattered laser radiation which constructively interferes with the
incoming beam to form intense transient electric fields. These methods are innovative,
but they are bulky, inefficient, transient, and produce minute numbers of e+e- pairs.
They are not candidates for portable energy production.

Consider the following: A strong electric field is a dense ensemble of organized virtual
photons. The question is: Where in nature is there already a huge assemblage of virtual
photons? The answer is the zero-point field. For many years, there was debate whether
zero-point photons were real or not. Various phenomenon, like vacuum polarization, and
the Casimir effect indicated that quantum vacuum fluctuations produce measurable
effects. Recent experiments by Lamaroux reveal that these fluctuations are real [1].


Since the zero-point field is an ensemble of randomly oriented virtual photons, why not
explore the idea of engineering the zero-point vacuum field to mimic a strong field?

This paper does exactly that. The theory is a semi-classical population based analysis of
the quantum vacuum. We break down the Lorentz invariant zero-point spectral energy
density to monochromatic zero-point fields. From this, and the Schwinger model of field
induced pair production, a calculation is made of the number of monochromatic zero-
point photons necessary to induce a breakdown of the vacuum. A calculation yields the
photon number density and critial field recurrence rate. A calculation is then made to
pinpoint the monochromatic spectrum that has a sufficient energy density to mimic
critical field strengths. The recurrence frequency is determined to deduce the pair
production rate using the Schwinger model. From the pair production rate, a simple final
calculation yields the energy production rate based on the non-relativistic annihilation
energy of the e+e- pairs.

Results of a simplified computer model of the monochromatic zero-point field indicate
that these fields can have pockets of organized photons which mimic locally strong fields.



Introduction
The quantum electromagnetic field is an exchange of virtual photons among charged
particles. At any point in time, the quantum and classical field Hamiltonians must be
equal. The expression that describes this equivalence is well known and accepted in the
literature [4,5].

)
2
1
( ) (
8
1
2 2 3
+ = + =

} o
o k
e
t
k
k
V
n B E x d H (1)

Quantum Field Theory states that the field operators E, B, and the number operator
o
k
n do
not commute, and there is never a situation where we know exactly how many photons
there are in the field [5]. We only know that an array of them are summed to produce the
Hamiltonian. We use the latter fact to construct a semi-classical population based theory
of virtual field induced pair production. The idea of the electromagnetic vacuum field
interacting with the particle vacuum field is not new. Dyson briefly mentions such an
effect under the guise of internal vacuum polarization [6].

Our goal is to mimic strong real fields by using the already existing virtual photons
within the zero-point field to create a virtual electric field.

Vacuum Spectra
Vacuum zero-point photons are virtual photons that obey a Lorentz invariant spectral
energy density

[4,8,9].

3 2
3
2
) (
c t
e
e

= (2)

Integrating over the frequency gives us the monochromatic energy density


3 2
4
8
) ( ) (
c
d u
t
e
e e e

}
= = . (3)



The zero-point Hamiltonian is simply the sum of zero-point photon energies and is
expressed as

=
o
k
k
e
2

H . (4)


Th energy density of the whole field can be neatly expressed as the summed product of
the whole field number density, and zero-point photon energies

=
o
o o k
k k
e n U
2

(5)

where the number density is the monochromatic energy density divided by the quantized
vacuum photon energy


o
o
o
k
k
k
e
e
e

) ( 2
) (
u
n = . (6)
The expressions above are our tools from which we will compute the parameters
necessary for zero-point field induced pair production.

Computations

Crital Field
The first piece of information we need is to answer the question of how strong of a field
does it take to induce pair creation? We go to Schwingers Field Induced Pair Production
model which describes the probability per unit volume per unit time for pair creation
given by the expression below [4]


=
j
eE
c m j
j c
E e
W )] [exp(
1
0
3 2
2 2 2
2
0
2

t
t
. (7)

E
0
is the electrostatic field intensity and j is summed from 1 to infinity. First of all, the
expression can be simplified by observing the fact that the summation converges rapidly.
The function is asymptotic with respect to E and j. When E
0
is 10
15
V/m, the first term
accounts for almost 100% of the whole sum. When E
0
approaches 10
20
V/m, the first
term accounts for more than 60% of the whole sum, and W approches the asymptote after
the first 20 terms. In fact, W approches the asymptote after the first 20 terms for all
values exceeding 10
20
V/m. See graph below:


Since the first term is within an order of magnitude of the whole sum for all Es and js,
we will just use the first term and perform order of magnitude spreadsheet calculations to
estimate the result. The calculation reveals that the critical field value where the
probability per cubic meter per second approaches 1 is when E0 = 5.5 x 10
15
V/m. This
results in an energy density of
2
2
0 0
E c
= 1.35 x 10
20
J/m
3
. Milonni calculates a critical
field of ~ 10
18
V/m based on forcing the exp( ) argument to approach 1 [4]. This yields a
probability value of W = 4 x 10
56
and an energy density of 4.4 x 10
24
J/m
3
. However,
experiments reveal that critical fields lasting ~ 10
-20
seconds in the vicinity of a large
quasi-nucleus create e+e-pairs [2]. So if we let the probability be 1, the time-scale be ~
10
-20
seconds, and the volume be based on typical heavy element nuclear volumes (~ 10
-
42
m
3
), then W = 10
62
. This yields a critical field of 3.6 x 10
20
V/m or an energy density
of 2.3 x 10
29
J/m
3
.

The table below outlines the discussion above.

E (V/m) W (prob/m
3
-sec) Energy Density (J/m
3
)
5.5 x 10
15
1 1.35 x 10
20

1.0 x 10
18
10
56
4.4 x 10
24

3.6 x 10
20
10
62
2.3 x 10
29

0
2E+68
4E+68
6E+68
8E+68
1E+69
1.2E+69
1.4E+69
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
W

j
Rapid Convergence of W respect to j when E = 10^24 V/m
W
Table 1. Properties of the Schwinger Probability Function

From these calculations, it is difficult to say exactly what the threshold for critical field
pair creation is, but, we can safely say that critical energy densities are on the order of
10
20
to 10
29
J/m
3
.

Photon Density
Next, we want to know how many monochromatic photons does it take to produce a field
with those energy densities. We will use the monochromatic energy density formula
(Eqn 3) to create a table of results. Since it is easy to calculate other properties other than
number density, the table is expandeded to include quantities such as photon lifetime,
photon range, and individual photon energy density. Properties of monocromatic
bandwidths from wavelengths of 1 meter (Radio Waves) to 1x10
-20
m aare shown in the
table below. Keep in mind that the goal is to calculate the number of monochromatic
photons needed to create a critical electric field with energy densities from 10
20
to 10
29

J/m
3
.

v e c c u(e) n(e) t R
(m) (1/s) (1/s) (J) (eV) (J/m
3
) (#/m
3
) (s) (m)
1.00E+00 3.00E+08 1.88E+09 9.93E-26 6.20E-07 6.24E-25 6.28E+00 6.67E-09 2.00E+00
1.00E-01 3.00E+09 1.88E+10 9.93E-25 6.20E-06 6.24E-21 6.28E+03 6.67E-10 2.00E-01
1.00E-02 3.00E+10 1.88E+11 9.93E-24 6.20E-05 6.24E-17 6.28E+06 6.67E-11 2.00E-02
1.00E-03 3.00E+11 1.88E+12 9.93E-23 6.20E-04 6.24E-13 6.28E+09 6.67E-12 2.00E-03
1.00E-04 3.00E+12 1.88E+13 9.93E-22 6.20E-03 6.24E-09 6.28E+12 6.67E-13 2.00E-04
1.00E-05 3.00E+13 1.88E+14 9.93E-21 6.20E-02 6.24E-05 6.28E+15 6.67E-14 2.00E-05
1.00E-06 3.00E+14 1.88E+15 9.93E-20 6.20E-01 6.24E-01 6.28E+18 6.67E-15 2.00E-06
1.00E-07 3.00E+15 1.88E+16 9.93E-19 6.20E+00 6.24E+03 6.28E+21 6.67E-16 2.00E-07
1.00E-08 3.00E+16 1.88E+17 9.93E-18 6.20E+01 6.24E+07 6.28E+24 6.67E-17 2.00E-08
1.00E-09 3.00E+17 1.88E+18 9.93E-17 6.20E+02 6.24E+11 6.28E+27 6.67E-18 2.00E-09
1.00E-10 3.00E+18 1.88E+19 9.93E-16 6.20E+03 6.24E+15 6.28E+30 6.67E-19 2.00E-10
1.00E-11 3.00E+19 1.88E+20 9.93E-15 6.20E+04 6.24E+19 6.28E+33 6.67E-20 2.00E-11
8.25E-12 3.64E+19 2.28E+20 1.20E-14 7.51E+04 1.35E+20 1.12E+34 5.50E-20 1.65E-11
1.00E-12 3.00E+20 1.88E+21 9.93E-14 6.20E+05 6.24E+23 6.28E+36 6.67E-21 2.00E-12
1.00E-13 3.00E+21 1.88E+22 9.93E-13 6.20E+06 6.24E+27 6.28E+39 6.67E-22 2.00E-13
1.00E-14 3.00E+22 1.88E+23 9.93E-12 6.20E+07 6.24E+31 6.28E+42 6.67E-23 2.00E-14
1.00E-15 3.00E+23 1.88E+24 9.93E-11 6.20E+08 6.24E+35 6.28E+45 6.67E-24 2.00E-15
1.00E-16 3.00E+24 1.88E+25 9.93E-10 6.20E+09 6.24E+39 6.28E+48 6.67E-25 2.00E-16
1.00E-17 3.00E+25 1.88E+26 9.93E-09 6.20E+10 6.24E+43 6.28E+51 6.67E-26 2.00E-17
1.00E-18 3.00E+26 1.88E+27 9.93E-08 6.20E+11 6.24E+47 6.28E+54 6.67E-27 2.00E-18
1.00E-19 3.00E+27 1.88E+28 9.93E-07 6.20E+12 6.24E+51 6.28E+57 6.67E-28 2.00E-19
1.00E-20 3.00E+28 1.88E+29 9.93E-06 6.20E+13 6.24E+55 6.28E+60 6.67E-29 2.00E-20
Table 2. Properties of the Monochromatic Spectral Energy Density


Using the number density formula, it is simple to calculate the number of ZPE photons
per cubic wavelength. We simply transform the frequency variable to a wavelength
variable in the number density formula where

t
e
c 2
= . The transformation goes like


t
t
e
e
o
k
2
8
) ( 2
) ( ) (
3 2
3
=

= =
c
n N

. (8)




The result is that the number of photons per cubic wavelength is a constant namely 2t.
Referring to the table above, and recalling the energy density requirement for strong field
pair creation is 10
20
to 10
29
J/m
3
, the wavelength which can create this energy density is
found.

The result is that it takes approximately six virtual photons with a wavelength no larger
than ~ 8.25 x 10
-12
m to induce pair creation.

Structure of The Vacuum Photon Field
Now, let us consider the organization of the vacuum photon field. Consider the
generalized QED electric field [4]

o k
k
e
k
e
k
k
o
o o
e t
,
*
2 / 1
] ) 0 ( ) 0 ( [
2
) ( e e e a e e a
V
i t r E
r k i t i r k i t i
k k

- -

|
.
|

\
|
=

(9)


and compare it to the QED vacuum field [4]

o k
k
e
k
e
k
k
o
o o
e t
,
*
2 / 1
0 ] ) 0 ( ) 0 ( [
2
) ( e e a e a
V
i t E
t i t i
k k


|
.
|

\
|
=

(10)


The QED fields are expressed using creation and annhilation operators with a magnitude
represented by the expression under the square root symbol. The only difference between
a real electric field and the virtual zero-point field, is a dependence on r . The
average of the dot products k r

- , gives a measure of the randomness of the photon


propagation vectors. If rk k r = -

, then the field is directional in the r

direction. . If
0 = - k r

, then the field is random and has an average value of zero. Notice that when
0 = - k r

, formula 8 and 9 are identical. From this we can say that a real electric field
is composed of an organized ensemble of virtual photons that adhere to the Hamiltonian
equivalence (eqn 1). On the other hand, the vacuum zero-point photon field is a random
ensemble of virtual photons that follow not only the Hamiltonian equivalence, but also
must adhere to the vacuum spectral energy density (eqn 2).

Random Vector Particle Vacuum Field Expression
It is not easy to see what is going on in the quantum field expressions (eqn 9,10). In
order to grasp the monochromatic field concept, we are going to construct a random
vacuum field as a sum of randomized monochromatic fields. Our purpose is to discretize
the field so we can simulate it on a computer.
We discard the wave mathematics because the lifetime,
e
t 2
= At and range, = At c of
each particle are short (on the order of the inverse frequency and wavelength
respectively). Nothing is waving. Each particle appears and dissappears at a time
e
t 2
.
During its lifetime, it travels a distance in the k

direction. At any time, the number of


photons per unit volume must be
3 2
3
8 c
n
t
e
k
k
= so there are six photons per cubic
wavelength (eqn 8).

Using this scenario, we can express the discretized monochromatic vacuum field as
pixelated fields of cubic wavelength volumes.

]

[
2
2 / 1
6
0
3 2
0
k
q
E
j
j
j
i

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
c
e
(11)




Notice that we use the cube of the photon wavelength as the quantized volume
3
q ,
where q is simply the factor that corrects for the effective volume of the photon. Since
each k

is random, the vector sum over only six photons is almost never zero.

( ) 0

6
0
=

= j
j
k (12)

This implies that on a small scale (wavelength sizes), localized non-zero fields do exist
within a monochromatic random photon field. We will explore more of this later in the
paper in the form of computer screen captures of the pixelated zero-point field.

Since each photon has energy density
3
2
e
c
k
q

= and there are 2t photons per cubic


wavelength, then summing the discretized photon energy densities should yield the
monochromatic energy density ) (e u (eqn. 3).


3 2
4 6
0
3
8 2 c q
N
j
j
t
e

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
=
(14)


Solving for q , we get
t
N
q = . Formally, N = 2t, but in discrete mathematics, we let N
= 6. The formal result assures that the spectral energy density is maintained.

So, to recapture the big picture. The monochromatic vacuum field is composed of
pixelated vacuum fields which follow the spectral energy density (eqn 2). Since each
pixelated field adheres to the spectral energy density, then the total monochromatic field
inherently follows the spectral energy density. There are an infinite number of
monochromatic fields. One can easily see that when looking at the total vacuum, at any
fixed position r, there are an infinite number of photons with the
j
k

s all adding to zero.



( ) 0 ) (
0 0
=

= = e
e
j
N
j
k

(15)



Energy Production Rate
The question now becomes; If we can isolate a critical wavelength monochromatic zero-
point field, and if periodic localized strong fields occur, then at what rate does pair
production occur? We can then calculate how much energy we can extract from the
resulting gamma radiation as the e+e- pairs annihilate.

Propagation Vector Statistics
First, we divide a cubic volume of space V, into pixels of volume
3
. A pixel contains
six randomly oriented photons. There is a finite probability p, that six photons will point
in the same general direction. This is a strong field condition. If there are N pixels per
cubic meter, then there will be pN strong field pixels. Equivalently, the volume
containing the fields is V. However, only a fraction of the volume contains strong field
conditions, so the effective volume is fV, where f is the fraction. We now need to find f
(or p).

Given n choices, a photon has a 1/n probability of pointing at any one choice. If a sphere
is divided into only two pixels (upper and lower hemisphere), the probability for a photon
to point at either hemishere is . Now, what is the probability of six photons pointing to
the same hemisphere. The answer is p = ()
6
= 0.0156. The probability for six photons
to point at a single pixel in a sphere pixelated into n pixels is is p = (1/n)
6
. Clearly, as n
approaches infinity, the probability approaches zero. In fact, the probability for six
photons to point in the exact same direction is zero. The question is, how close is close
enough? In essence, what is a reasonable value for n such that if six photons point within
the solid angle subtended by 4t/n, then the resulting field is strong enough for pair
creation?

We need to explore the sensitivity of the electric field to photon propagation vectors. If
all the vectors point in the same direction, the electric field is maximum. If the vectors
are all pointing away from each other, the electric field is zero. Equation 11 describes the
zero-point electric field as the sum of vectors.

For six monochromatic photons, the field becomes (remember that N = 6/t)


( )
6 5 4 3 2 1
2 / 1
3 2
0
2 / 1
6
0
3 2
0

12
]

[
12
k k k k k k k i E
j
j
j j
j
+ + + + +
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

=
c
e t
c
e t


If r
is an arbitrary unit vector, then

( ) ) cos( ) cos( ) cos( ) cos( ) cos( ) cos(
12
] [
6 5 4 3 2 1
2 / 1
3
u u u u u u

e t
+ + + + +
|
|
.
|

\
|
= -

r r Ek

So, the field is maximized when the angles are not only the same, but close to zero.
Clearly, we can choose an arbitrary unit vector that minimizes the angles. The part that
is not mathematically obvious is that in order for a strong field condition to occur, we
must minimize the variance in the angles. Equivalently, we must maximize the sum of
one of the components of each unit vector. In the language of vectors we can expand the
unit vectors into components

( ) ...

2 2 2 1 1 1 6 5 4 3 2 1
+ + + + + + = + + + + + z Z y Y x X z Z y Y x X k k k k k k

where the condition 1
2 2 2
= + +
i i i
Z Y X is always true. For six unit vectors, the field is
maximum when the sum of one of the components is nearly six, and the sum of the other
components is near zero. The Maximum Field Condition below summarizes what we
need.

6
6
1
~

= i
i
X and 0
6
1
~

= i
i
Y and 0
6
1
~

= i
i
Z

or

0
6
1
~

= i
i
X and 6
6
1
~

= i
i
Y and 0
6
1
~

= i
i
Z

or

0
6
1
~

= i
i
X and 0
6
1
~

= i
i
Y and 6
6
1
~

= i
i
Z

The question is, how close to six must we be for a strong field condition to be defined?


If we look at the Schwinger function results, we see that W ~ E
2
and E
crit
> 10
15
V/m. I
propose that once you exceed the critical field strength, sub-order of magnitude estimates
of E will produce insignificant changes in W. From this, I will simply state that when
exceeding the 10
15
V/m threshold, if E
eff
> 0.9 E
crit
, then we have sufficient conditions for
pair creation. Obviously, six random photons will have six different angles. To simplify
the analysis, let us assume that the largest random angle is the angle for all six photons.
Now, we solve for the angle and find that u = .45 rad (25 deg). This represents a unit
solid angle of .2 steradians. A unit sphere has a surface area of 4t steradians, so this will
divide the sphere into 62 pixels. Thus, n = 62 so p = 1 x 10
-11
. Essentially, there is a
probability of 1 x 10
-11
that six random photons will point to within 25 degrees of each
other and create a strong field within 90% of the critical field value. This is only valid
for zero-point photons of wavelengths smaller than 10
-11
m.

Therefore, the effective volume is V
eff
= 10
-11
V.

Computation Example:
From table 1, we already know that an electric field of 5.5 x 10
15
V/m has a Schwinger
number of W = 1 (prob/m
3
-sec). The wavelength that corresponds to that energy density
in table 2 is approximately 8.25x10
-12
m. The volume of pair producing effects only
occupies a fraction of a cubic meter (10
-11
V). If we divide a cubic meter into cubic
wavelength pixels, we will have 10
33
pixels measuring approximately 10
-11
m on each
side (cubic wavelengths). So, the Effective Volume = 10
-11
x 10
33
pixels ~ 10
22
pixels.
Thus, there are only 10
22
strong field pixels in a cubic meter. Remember that a pixel
which represents a cubic wavelength contains six zero-point photons. This is because we
calculated that the number of photons per cubic wavelength is constant namely, there
are 2t photons per cubic wavelength according to equation 8.

Now since we know the Schwinger value W = 1 (prob/m
3
-sec), each pixel that has strong
field conditions will produce 1 pair per cubic meter per second. so to calculate the
Effective Probability Rate P
w
, we simply multiply W by the effective volume.

P
w
= W x V
eff
which has units of (prob/sec).


Our effective volume is 10
-11
m
3
, thus, we have a pair creation rate of 10
-11
pairs per
second. Assuming that all pairs annihilate into gamma radiation, the resulting energy
production is the non-relativistic gamma radiation energy (10
-14
J) multiplied by the
production rate. Therefore the energy production rate is 10
-25
Watts per cubic meter.


This result is miniscule and informs us that we need to seek smaller wavelengths for
greater energy production.

The discussion above was primarily aimed at going through the motions of actually
calculating an energy production rate based on the fairly obscure theory described in this
paper.

Now that weve done a calculation, I will simply write out results for various
wavelengths in the table below. All entries and results are order of magnitude
calculations.


Wavelength
(m)
Effective
Volume
(m
3
)
Schwinger
Value (W)
(prob/m
3
-sec)
No. of e+e-
pairs per
second
Energy Production Rate
(Watts/m
3
)
10
-11

10
-11

1
10
-11

10
-25

10
-12

10
-11

10
60
10
49
10
35

5x10
-15

10
-11

10
68
10
57
10
43

Table 3. Energy Production Rate (e+e- annihilation) from Virtual Strong Field Induced Pair
Production


These are order of magnitude calculations. Notice that if we reduce the wavelength to
10
-12
m, the energy production rate increases very rapidly. One can see that the critical
wavelength where the energy production rate increases dramatically is when the photon
wavelength approches 10
-11
m.

Let us now calculate a more precise wavelength that we need to isolate in order to
produce a more reasonable energy production rate say one megawatt per cubic meter.


Megawatt Calculation
First, we need to generate a table similar to table 1 containing Schwinger values and
energy densities. Notice that the electric field determines the Scwinger number (W), and
the energy density U.

From the Schwinger number (W), we calculate the probability rate since P
w
= W x V
eff

The energy production rate is (P
w
) x (1 x 10
-14
J). As before, we only use the first term in
the Schwinger function because of its rapid convergence.

E W U Prob Rate Energy Production Rate
(V/m) (prob/m^3-sec) (J/m^3) (1/sec) (W/m^3)
1.00E+16 1.63E+24 4.43E+20 1.63E+13 1.63E-01
1.03E+16 8.57E+24 4.65E+20 8.57E+13 8.57E-01
1.05E+16 4.33E+25 4.88E+20 4.33E+14 4.33E+00
1.08E+16 2.11E+26 5.13E+20 2.11E+15 2.11E+01
1.10E+16 9.89E+26 5.39E+20 9.89E+15 9.89E+01
1.13E+16 4.47E+27 5.66E+20 4.47E+16 4.47E+02
1.16E+16 1.95E+28 5.95E+20 1.95E+17 1.95E+03
1.19E+16 8.22E+28 6.25E+20 8.22E+17 8.22E+03
1.22E+16 3.35E+29 6.57E+20 3.35E+18 3.35E+04
1.25E+16 1.32E+30 6.90E+20 1.32E+19 1.32E+05
1.28E+16 5.03E+30 7.25E+20 5.03E+19 5.03E+05
1.31E+16 1.86E+31 7.62E+20 1.86E+20 1.86E+06
1.34E+16 6.67E+31 8.00E+20 6.67E+20 6.67E+06
1.38E+16 2.32E+32 8.41E+20 2.32E+21 2.32E+07
1.41E+16 7.85E+32 8.83E+20 7.85E+21 7.85E+07
1.45E+16 2.58E+33 9.28E+20 2.58E+22 2.58E+08
1.48E+16 8.23E+33 9.75E+20 8.23E+22 8.23E+08
1.52E+16 2.56E+34 1.02E+21 2.56E+23 2.56E+09
1.56E+16 7.75E+34 1.08E+21 7.75E+23 7.75E+09
1.60E+16 2.29E+35 1.13E+21 2.29E+24 2.29E+10
1.64E+16 6.58E+35 1.19E+21 6.58E+24 6.58E+10
1.68E+16 1.85E+36 1.25E+21 1.85E+25 1.85E+11
Table 4. Energy Production Rate (e+e- annihilation) as a function of electric field strength

Then, we generate another table similar to table 2, but with energy densities that contain
the band of energy densities found in the Schwinger table above.

v e c c u n t R
(m) (1/s) (1/s) (J) (eV) (J/m
3
) (#/m
3
) (s) (m)
6.13E-12 4.90E+19 3.08E+20 1.62E-14 1.01E+05 4.43E+20 2.73E+34 4.08E-20 1.23E-11
6.05E-12 4.96E+19 3.11E+20 1.64E-14 1.02E+05 4.65E+20 2.84E+34 4.03E-20 1.21E-11
5.98E-12 5.02E+19 3.15E+20 1.66E-14 1.04E+05 4.89E+20 2.94E+34 3.98E-20 1.20E-11
5.90E-12 5.08E+19 3.19E+20 1.68E-14 1.05E+05 5.14E+20 3.05E+34 3.94E-20 1.18E-11
5.83E-12 5.15E+19 3.23E+20 1.70E-14 1.06E+05 5.40E+20 3.17E+34 3.89E-20 1.17E-11
5.76E-12 5.21E+19 3.27E+20 1.72E-14 1.08E+05 5.67E+20 3.29E+34 3.84E-20 1.15E-11
5.69E-12 5.27E+19 3.31E+20 1.75E-14 1.09E+05 5.96E+20 3.41E+34 3.79E-20 1.14E-11
5.62E-12 5.34E+19 3.35E+20 1.77E-14 1.10E+05 6.26E+20 3.54E+34 3.75E-20 1.12E-11
5.55E-12 5.41E+19 3.39E+20 1.79E-14 1.12E+05 6.57E+20 3.67E+34 3.70E-20 1.11E-11
5.48E-12 5.47E+19 3.44E+20 1.81E-14 1.13E+05 6.90E+20 3.81E+34 3.65E-20 1.10E-11
5.41E-12 5.54E+19 3.48E+20 1.83E-14 1.14E+05 7.25E+20 3.96E+34 3.61E-20 1.08E-11
5.35E-12 5.61E+19 3.52E+20 1.86E-14 1.16E+05 7.62E+20 4.10E+34 3.57E-20 1.07E-11
5.28E-12 5.68E+19 3.57E+20 1.88E-14 1.17E+05 8.01E+20 4.26E+34 3.52E-20 1.06E-11
5.22E-12 5.75E+19 3.61E+20 1.90E-14 1.19E+05 8.41E+20 4.42E+34 3.48E-20 1.04E-11
5.15E-12 5.82E+19 3.66E+20 1.93E-14 1.20E+05 8.83E+20 4.59E+34 3.44E-20 1.03E-11
5.09E-12 5.89E+19 3.70E+20 1.95E-14 1.22E+05 9.28E+20 4.76E+34 3.39E-20 1.02E-11
5.03E-12 5.97E+19 3.75E+20 1.97E-14 1.23E+05 9.75E+20 4.94E+34 3.35E-20 1.01E-11
4.97E-12 6.04E+19 3.79E+20 2.00E-14 1.25E+05 1.02E+21 5.12E+34 3.31E-20 9.93E-12
4.91E-12 6.11E+19 3.84E+20 2.02E-14 1.26E+05 1.08E+21 5.32E+34 3.27E-20 9.81E-12
4.85E-12 6.19E+19 3.89E+20 2.05E-14 1.28E+05 1.13E+21 5.52E+34 3.23E-20 9.69E-12
4.79E-12 6.27E+19 3.94E+20 2.07E-14 1.29E+05 1.19E+21 5.72E+34 3.19E-20 9.57E-12
4.73E-12 6.34E+19 3.98E+20 2.10E-14 1.31E+05 1.25E+21 5.94E+34 3.15E-20 9.46E-12
Table 5. Zero-point field energy density as a function of Zero-point photon wavelength

From the Scwinger table, we can see that an electric field with an energy density of ~ 7.6
x 10
20
J/m
3
induces a pair production/annihilation rate of slightly over a megawatt per
cubic meter. The corresponding zero-point field which has the same energy density is
composed of virtual photons with a wavelength of 5.3 x 10
-12
m.

In conclusion, if in a cubic meter of space - we isolate a zero-point field composed
of virtual photons which have a wavelength of 5.3 x 10
-12
m, then periodic regions of
organized photons will create pockets of strong Virtual fields. These virtual fields
will induce a breakdown of the vacuum releasing e+e- pairs at a rate of ~ 10
20
per
cubic meter per second. As the pairs annihilate, the resulting gamma radiation will
have an energy production rate of ~ 1 Megawatt per cubic meter of device volume.

Now, having said all that, lets test the validity of the model by programming a computer
to follow the specifications laid out above. In particular, the model will simulate the
statistics of a stochastic monochromatic zero-point field.

Computer Model
It is a relatively simple matter to simulate the monochromatic random photon field
described above, on a computer. Our only criteria are that we follow the spectral energy
density that is the number of photons per cubic wavelength is constant (2t). The
model uses a volume of space with six random photon propagation vectors. The volume
of space is equal to a cubic wavelength. We allow each photon to propagate in a random
direction and expand the vector in a cartesian x,y,z coordinate system. We sum the
photon unit vector elements until the Maximum Field Condition above is met. We count
the number of iterations it takes to meet the condition and associate a probability with
this, P ~ 1/n. Every time the critical condition is met, we form a resultant unit vector and
find the angle it makes with respect to the largest contributing coordinate. This angle is
used to calculate the fraction of surface area subtended onto a unit sphere

f = (arcos(u))
2


The sphere is divided into pixels corresponding to that fractional area and we count the
number of pixels

N = 4t/f

This is the same N discussed previously describing the probability of finding six photons
pointing in the same general direction. The probability of finding six photons to point in
the same direction is

P = (1/N)
6


The computer model result differs from the theoretical result mainly because the random
number generator is not totally random. Every time I run the model, the random number
seed is the same, so we get similar results every time.

One can see the results of the model in Appendix A. The point to all of this is that there
exists a non-zero probability that six random vectors point in the same general direction
+/- 30 degrees. This represents a strong field condition. The probability P is simply the
fraction of unit volume regions that have strong field conditions. The result is that
isolated monochromatic fields have localized strong fields. That is the whole point of
this paper.

Candidate Devices
The critical wavelength was found to be ~ 5.3 x 10
-12
m producing 1 MW per cubic
meter. Casimir geometries with those dimensions may or may not be possible. Current
levels of technology can machine optics to a precision of 100 angstroms. Improved
quantum technologies may allow us to create precision Casimir cavities with subatomic
dimensions. Our goal is to calculate the exclusion bands for various geometries and try
to design a zero-bandwidth cavity centered around 5.3 x 10
-12
m. Smaller cavities (10
-13

m) will simply vaporize the device due to the extreme energy production rates (>10
35

Watts).


Conclusion
The goal was a to develop a theory for a source of e+e- pairs for energy production
applications. I introduced the concept of modifying the zero-point vacuum field to mimic
e+e- pair producing strong electric fields. I developed a semi-classical population based
quantum field theory in which I use zero-point virtual photons to generate a pair creating
critical virtual electric field. I started with the zero-point spectral energy density and
broke it down to monochromatic fields. I then calculated the number of monochromatic
zero-point photons necessary to induce a breakdown of the vacuum. I found that the
photon number density (per cubic wavelength) was a constant. From this, I developed a
simple computer model of a monochromatic zero-point field and found that these fields
have pockets of organized photons which mimic locally strong fields. This resulted in
discovering that the probability of six random photons aligning themselves to within 90%
of the maximum vector potential was 10
-11
. This resulted in an interpretation that in a
volume V, about 10
-11
V of the volume contains strong field conditions. I then calculated
the pair production rate using the Schwinger model and the computer simulation results.
From the pair production rate, I deduced the energy production rate based on the non-
relativistic annihilation energy. I found that the critical photon wavelength required to
create pairs is ~ 5.3 x 10
-12
m producing energy at a rate of 1 MW per cubic meter.

The presentation suggests that IF we can isolate a sufficiently energetic zero-point
electromagnetic field, then the statistics of the spectral energy density function will create
periodic strong localized fields that can mimic the organized virtual photons that produce
real electrostatic fields. If the field has a sufficient energy density (short wavelength
zero-point photons), then we can extract e
+
e
-
pairs from the quantum vacuum. The
annihilation of these pairs will result in radiation that can be converted to useable energy.


Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to Harold Puthoff and the small group of Vacuum researchers that
are relentlessly searching for ways to tap the vacuum field energy. The huge volume of
work published gave me the confidence that this work is worth pursuing. Special thanks
are also due to Peter Milonni for publishing his book - The Quantum Vacuum - from
which I learned most of the basics of Quantum Field Theory as applied to the quatum
vacuum.

References

[1] S.K. Lamaroux, Phy Rev. Lett., Vol. 78, No. 1, pp 5 (6 Jan 1997): Demonstration


[2] K.M. Hartmann., Am J. Phy., Vol 53 No. 2, pp, 137, (Feb 1985): Population
Explosion in the Vacuum.

[3] J. Schweppe et al., Phy. Rev. Lett., Vol 51, pp 2261 (1983):

[4] P.W. Milonni, Academic Press 1994, The Quantum Vacuum, Ch 2.

[5] W. Heitler, Dover 0-486-64558-4, The Quantum Theory of Radiation, Ch 2.

[6] F.J. Dyson, Phy. Rev., Vol 75, pp 486 (1949): The Radiation Theories of
Tomonaga, Schwinger,and Feynman.

[7] D.C. Cole and H.E. Puthoff, Phy. Rev. E, Vol 48, pp 1562 (1993): Extracting
Energy and Heat from the Vacuum.

[8] H.E Puthoff, Phy. Rev. A., Vol 40, No. 9, pp 4857 (1989): Source of Vacuum
Electromagnetic Zero-Point Energy

[9] H.E Puthoff, Phy. Rev. D., Vol 35, No. 10, pp 3266 (1987): Ground State of
Hydrogen as a Zero-Point-Determined State.










APPENDIX A

COMPUTER MODEL OF MONOCHROMATIC VACUUM






































Zero-Point Field Snapshot #2.
Top chart shows regions of moderately strong fields (E > 0.66 E
max
).
Bottom chart shows LOGIC determination of definite strong regions (IF E > 0.8 E
max
,
THEN Pixel = Black, ELSE, Pixel = Grey.)




Zero-Point Field Snapshot #3.
Top chart shows regions of moderately strong fields (E > 0.66 E
max
).
Bottom chart shows LOGIC determination of definite strong regions (IF E > 0.8 E
max
,
THEN Pixel = Black, ELSE, Pixel = Grey.)

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