Inertial mass and the quantum vacuum fields

TL;DR

This paper explores a novel approach to inertia based on interactions between matter and the electromagnetic zero-point field of the quantum vacuum, proposing a physical basis for inertia and wave-particle duality.

Contribution

It introduces a mechanism where quantum vacuum fields induce inertia through scattering interactions, linking electrodynamics to the origin of mass and quantum wave properties.

Findings

Inertia can arise from ZPF interactions with matter.

Reaction forces depend on acceleration and ZPF asymmetries.

The approach offers a physical basis for de Broglie wavelength.

Abstract

Even when the Higgs particle is finally detected, it will continue to be a legitimate question to ask whether the inertia of matter as a reaction force opposing acceleration is an intrinsic or extrinsic property of matter. General relativity specifies which geodesic path a free particle will follow, but geometrodynamics has no mechanism for generating a reaction force for deviation from geodesic motion. We discuss a different approach involving the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF) of the quantum vacuum. It has been found that certain asymmetries arise in the ZPF as perceived from an accelerating reference frame. In such a frame the Poynting vector and momentum flux of the ZPF become non-zero. Scattering of this quantum radiation by the quarks and electrons in matter can result in an acceleration-dependent reaction force. Both the ordinary and the relativistic forms of Newton's second law, the equation of motion, can be derived from the electrodynamics of such ZPF-particle interactions. Conjectural arguments are given why this interaction should take place in a resonance at the Compton frequency, and how this could simultaneously provide a physical basis for the de Broglie wavelength of a moving particle. This affords a suggestive perspective on a deep connection between electrodynamics, the origin of inertia and the quantum wave nature of matter.