Do particles really emerge from the vacuum at random?

[jeebs]

Everyone knows that particle-antiparticle pairs are supposed to be able to spontaneously pop into existence from "nothing", exist whilst the uncertainty principle allows it, then recombine and annihilate.

Is it really spontaneous though, or has any thought been given towards whether this is more than just a random occurrence?

 

[jtbell]

We had a thread about this not too long ago:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=530267

 

[jeebs]

We had a thread about this not too long ago:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=530267

nice one, I'll have a read.

 

[Mordred]

I rather liked watching that thread learned a lot from it.