AAWSAP DIRD, Concepts for Extracting Energy from the Quantum Vacuum, April 2010

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Low-temperature van der Waals forces.
Casimir effect.
Source of photon shot and fluctuating radiation-pressure noise in lasers.
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Astronomically observed cosmological constant (aka dark energy, a form of
Casimir energy according to the Schwinger-DeWitt quantum ether
prescription [ Reference 1-4]).
Rather than eliminate the ZPF energy from the equations, there is much left to
be learned by exploring the possibility that it is a real energy, From this
perspective, the ordinary world of matter and energy is like foam atop the
quantum vacuum sea. If the ZPF is real, then there is the possibility that it can
be tapped as a source of power or be harnessed to generate a propulsive force
for space travel. This notion of exchanging energy with the quantum vacuum
is the focus of this paper.
An aircraft propeller or jet engine can push air backwards to propel the
aircraft forward. A ship or boat propeller does the same thing in water. On
Earth there is air or water to push against. But a rocket in space has no
material medium to push against, and so it needs to carry and eject propellant
in order to provide momentum. A deep-space rocket must start out with all the
propellant it will ever require, and this quickly results in the need to carry
additional propellant just to propel the propellant. The breakthrough desired
in space travel is to eliminate the need to carry propellant at all, that is, to
generate a propulsive force without carrying and ejecting propellant?
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