Quantum theory, one of the twin pillars of modern physics, is often hailed as the science closest to the divine.
It predicts that a vacuum is not empty but contains a vast amount of background energy, which persists even at absolute zero. This is known as Vacuum Zero-Point Energy.
The concept stems from a foundational rule of quantum mechanics: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
This principle states that it is impossible to simultaneously know a particle's position and momentum with perfect precision. Therefore, even when the temperature drops to absolute zero, particles must still vibrate. If they were to stop completely, their momentum and position would be precisely known (zero and fixed), which would violate the principle.
The energy generated by this mandatory vibration at absolute zero is Zero-Point Energy.
This was precisely what Arthur Lambert was referring to. In fact, humanity had already utilized this energy on a microscopic scale, the Casimir Effect.
In 1948, Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir proposed a method to detect this energy. Theoretically, vacuum energy manifests as virtual particles constantly forming and annihilating on a tiny scale, a phenomenon known as quantum fluctuation.
Normally, a vacuum is filled with waves of all wavelengths. Casimir theorized that if two uncharged metal plates were placed extremely close together, the longer wavelengths would not fit between them.
Consequently, the pressure from the waves outside the plates would exceed the pressure inside, creating a force that pushes the plates together. The closer the plates, the stronger the attraction.
In 1996, physicists successfully measured this Casimir force, confirming the existence of Vacuum Zero-Point Energy.
But just how much energy is there? The physicist John Wheeler estimated that the energy density of a vacuum could be as high as joules per cubic meter. This number is practically infinite.
It suggests that the energy contained in a coffee cup of empty space might exceed the energy released by the annihilation of all matter in the observable universe.
It is a power far beyond nuclear energy. Scientists have long fantasized: can we extract this energy on a large scale?
Unfortunately, the answer had always been no. The Casimir force diminishes rapidly as the scale increases.
At humanity's current technological level, utilizing Zero-Point Energy was impossible, involving complex fields like the Dirac Sea. It was a mystery of the cosmos that left most scientists scratching their heads. All they could do was make two tiny metal plates get slightly warm.
It was precisely because they understood the difficulty that they realized the magnitude of what the Noah was doing. The ship seemed to be powering its internal mass using this very energy.
Of course, Arthur's theory was speculation, lacking hard experimental proof.
"Everyone, I have a hypothesis," Arthur continued from the stage. "Our kinetic energy is transformed from Vacuum Zero-Point Energy. I believe we 'borrow' this energy from the vacuum. And, crucially, I believe that borrowed energy must be returned."
"Our internal velocity strictly matches the Noah. When the ship accelerates, we gain speed, meaning we borrow energy from the vacuum to generate kinetic energy."
"When the Noah lands or stops, our speed returns to zero, and that borrowed kinetic energy is silently returned to the vacuum, thus maintaining the conservation of energy throughout the process."
"During this exchange, the energy acts directly on every quantum particle in our bodies, which is why we feel no G-force... Of course, this is just my speculation."
Arthur shrugged helplessly. "I apologize. Our current scientific understanding cannot fully explain the mechanism... but the logic holds."
Except for the Tesla Institute team, everyone else was reeling. What does this mean? Can borrowed energy be returned?
It sounded like boiling a kettle of water, then deciding you didn't want tea, so you somehow returned the heat from the water back into the gas line, instantly cooling the water and regenerating the gas.
It sounded absolutely ridiculous.
However, if one viewed it through the lens of quantum theory, it was plausible. According to quantum fluctuations, energy appears out of nowhere and vanishes just as quickly.
If a technology existed that could stabilize this fluctuation, borrowing 100 units of energy and delaying the annihilation of 99 units,then one unit of energy has effectively been extracted. Eventually, however, the ledger must balance. The total energy must return to zero.
"Dr. Lambert," a scientist asked, "what evidence do you have to confirm this conjecture?"
"A simple observation," Arthur replied immediately. "When the Noah launched, we gained speed without feeling force. But what about deceleration?"
"Recently, the ship has been braking, yet we haven't felt a deceleration force pulling us forward. This indicates our kinetic energy is slowly decreasing without physical force being applied. I speculate this kinetic energy is being drained back into the vacuum."
"This led to a new idea: If our kinetic energy is a loan from the vacuum, what happens if we default on the loan?"
The audience began to fidget. Arthur's hypothesis was absurd, yet it followed a bizarre logical consistency.
"Dr. Lambert," someone called out. "How do you 'default' on the energy loan?"
"Simple: Escape the ship! If I move from inside the Noah to the outside, I carry that 'borrowed' kinetic energy with me. I leave the system."
"To verify this, I conducted experiments by ejecting high-mass objects out of the ship's airlock. A new phenomenon occurred: the spaceship's speed dropped slightly!"
"This indicates that when I transferred the kinetic energy out, the spaceship's overall energy balance was forced to compensate. The ship paid the debt for me!"
The room fell silent as they digested this.
Jason, however, understood immediately.
The vacuum was like a wealthy, benevolent banker. You want to borrow money (energy)? Sure, take as much as you want, zero interest.
However, if an object inside the ship was ejected, that object, and its borrowed kinetic energy , effectively "ran away" with the cash. The banker, unable to find the debtor, turned to the guarantor: the Noah.
The vacuum demanded the energy back from the ship itself, causing the ship to lose velocity.
It was amazing technology. A truly alien phenomenon.
"Simply put, for every unit of kinetic energy we eject from the inside, the spaceship's kinetic energy decreases proportionally. It satisfies the following equation..." Arthur pulled up a new slide.
"Excuse me," Jason raised his hand. "What is the practical application of this?"
"Hello, Mr. Jason. We believe that based on this phenomenon, we can effectively brake the spaceship without fuel."
Arthur gestured enthusiastically. "The ship's hull mass is constant at 1.03 million tons. If we eject an object from the internal storage equal to three times the hull's mass, the ship will be forced to 'return' a massive amount of kinetic energy. It would immediately decelerate to half its original speed."
"If we eject mass equal to eight times the hull's mass, the speed drops to one-third! This deceleration is almost instantaneous. Do you understand? This is a completely new method of space braking!"
"Under macroscopic low-speed conditions, the deceleration formula is: .
"v1 = √(m0 / m1) * v0. Where m0 is the spaceship's original mass, and m1 is the sum of the spaceship's mass and the ejected object's mass."
"Based on this, we designed the 'Vacuum Displacement Deceleration Plan.' As long as we continuously eject waste mass, the ship will rapidly slow down."
"Conversely, if we could throw high-speed mass into the ship, we could accelerate... The vacuum never asks for interest; it just balances the books."
Everyone was stunned. Throwing things out slows you down. Throwing things in speeds you up.
It was god-tier technology.
However, after a brief discussion, the scientists realized acceleration wasn't feasible. To throw a large mass into the ship, that mass would have to be moving faster than the ship to catch it. If they had an engine capable of that, they wouldn't need this trick.
But for deceleration? It was perfect. Stopping in space was notoriously difficult and fuel-intensive.
"We will name this the 'Transcendence Deceleration Protocol'!"
It was simple, practical, and far more economical than chemical retro-thrusters.
With this discovery and the accompanying paper, the Tesla Institute's performance score began to catch up to, and eventually surpass, the Wolfpack Design Bureau.