Can matter come into existence in empty space?

[Neil Condon]

A question arose over a simplification I wrote on another subject. My i information say's that matters antimatter pairs are generated in what is known to be very empty space such as the voids within the cosmic web. When I read about this it was considered anomalous but definitely verified.

Now empty space I admit is definitely not empty despite its vacant look. Within the voids is definitely the place I would point to as example of empty space. Has anyone else heard of this matter - antimatter pairs in empty space, because I was being told it does not happen.

Personally I always thought it was an impossibility of the second kind (see Impossible physics), the chances of it occurring is so tiny that you may as well say it is impossible, yet we do from time to time see it occurring on the largest scale.

Can anyone tell me more about these findings.

 

[rootone]

I am not sure if spontaneous generation of particle and antiparticle pairs has been experimentally verified.
However the math behind the standard model does allow it to be possible

 

[PeterDonis]

My i information

Your information from where? Please give a specific reference.

 

[Neil Condon]

I read it in numerous scientific magazines and books that was published mid nineties, when this phenomena was put around as a piece of common knowledge like the sort on trivia cards. Reporting may be different here in Australia, but it seemed to me at the time to be in just about everything i picked up. Sorry I can't give you the origin reference, "popular science" tends to lag way behind the discoveries made.

 

[PeterDonis]

I read it in numerous scientific magazines and books

Were any of them textbooks or peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals? I'm going to guess that the answer to that is no.

"popular science" tends to lag way behind the discoveries made.

More than that, "popular science" tends to not correctly report the actual science. That's why we don't accept pop science sources for discussion here at PF.

If you want to discuss this issue, you first need to consult an actual textbook or peer-reviewed paper and learn what the actual science says. The short answer to the question you pose in the title of this thread is still "no". There are phenomena involving quantum fields in the vacuum that are sometimes, in pop science sources, described as "virtual particle pairs coming into existence and then annihilating each other" or something similar, but those descriptions are misleading and you should not try to reason about the actual science based on them.

 

[PeterDonis]

And with that, since no valid sources have been given, this thread is closed.