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OK am trying to find out the meaning of vacuum since particle do exist everywhere even where all 'matter' has being removed am certain the definition of vacuum doesn't make sense with particles can someone explain this better thanks in advance

D. Sikilai
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    Perfect vacuum would mean no particles at all. Locally, this is possible. On Earth as well as in space. Quantum field theory includes virtual particles though. At this point, the answer is not as clear – lmr Apr 04 '19 at 19:44
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    How did you conclude that particles are everywhere, even when all matter is removed? – JMac Apr 04 '19 at 19:47
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    @lmr virtual particles are not "particles" but quick-calculation tools. – Avantgarde Apr 04 '19 at 19:56
  • I agree @Avantgarde but I've heard people argue that this makes a perfect vacuum Impossible. I mentioned it for the sake of completeness. – lmr Apr 04 '19 at 20:07
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    @lmr I suppose a better way to state it would be that for a field $\phi$, the commutator $[\phi, \partial_t \phi] \neq 0$ – Avantgarde Apr 04 '19 at 20:16
  • No they are not just calculational tools, this is a very big misunderstanding with many budding scientists. The bigger majority of scientists will in fact tell you different and that virtual particles are in fact real. There are many reasons to think this is so. – Gareth Meredith Apr 04 '19 at 20:35
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    I love the smell of vacuum in the morning! – Ryan Thorngren Apr 04 '19 at 20:35
  • Related: Do virtual particles actually physically exist?, and the links there. – PM 2Ring Apr 05 '19 at 06:58
  • Related perhaps, but probably not best get swamped in a debate that possibly gives different interpretations. Best to go do an investigation and see what top physicists actually say about the matter. – Gareth Meredith Apr 05 '19 at 16:11
  • Jmac, he is right. There resides fluctuations even when all the visible matter in a vacuum has been removed. This goes right back to zero point fields. – Gareth Meredith Apr 05 '19 at 16:12

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