From: Bob Cook * * Can any Vort explain the relation between ZPE and the Uncertainty Principle? Bob - You will probably find mostly anecdotes, since a physical connection between the two is strained. One relationship I found in a quick search is that the Uncertainty Principle defines the limits of the minimal thermal system at zero degrees in 3-space via the harmonic oscillator. For instance, helium should freeze solid at ambient pressure and zero degrees, but doesn’t. Granted, this at first seems to be little in the way of energy.
BTW Helium does freeze at high pressure (and absolute zero). For Helium-4 it is ~2.5 MPa. The virtual photons which keep the electrons away from the nucleus apparently resist compression by a significant amount. If ZPE exerts a counter force of around 2.5 Mpa, and each atom has a volume of about 3x10^(-30) m^3, then there is a lot of force available in a tiny space - if anyone can figure out a way to convert it to energy. Here is another way (simpler) to express it. ZPE prevents physical systems from dropping to zero energy at zero temperature… and without a foundation at zero energy, there is no certainty in relative position (or any complementary variables). Stated that way, it looks like a close relationship.
