Dynamics Underlying the Gaussian Distribution of the Classical Harmonic Oscillator in Zero-Point Radiation

Authors

Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Herman Batelaan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang

Herman Batelaan

Date of this Version

Fall 10-7-2013

Citation

Journal of Computational Methods in Physics (2013), 2013: 308538
doi: 10.1155/2013/308538

Comments

Published by Hindawi Publishing Corporation: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcmp/2013/308538/abs/

Copyright © 2013 W. C.-W. Huang and H. Batelaan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Abstract

Stochastic electrodynamics (SED) predicts a Gaussian probability distribution for a classical harmonic oscillator in the vacuum field. This probability distribution is identical to that of the ground state quantum harmonic oscillator. Thus, the Heisenberg minimum uncertainty relation is recovered in SED. To understand the dynamics that give rise to the uncertainty relation and the Gaussian probability distribution, we perform a numerical simulation and follow the motion of the oscillator. The dynamical information obtained through the simulation provides insight to the connection between the classic double-peak probability distribution and the Gaussian probability distribution. A main objective for SED research is to establish to what extent the results of quantum mechanics can be obtained. The present simulation method can be applied to other physical systems, and it may assist in evaluating the validity range of SED.