Zero-point field theory of inertia paper (1998)

Zero-point field theory of inertia paper (1998)

Date	August 1998
Topics	Government programs (topic), Propulsion & physics (topic)
People	Harold Puthoff, Bernard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda, Salvatore Pais
Testimony	Shellenberger testimony, p. 131
Year	1998 in UFO history
Timeline	1998 on the UAP Timeline
Sources	16

"Advances in the proposed electromagnetic zero-point field theory of inertia" is a 1998 paper by the physicists Bernhard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and Harold E. Puthoff. It was an invited presentation at the 34th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on 13–15 July 1998, and is AIAA paper 98-3143.^[1][14] It proposed that inertia, an object's resistance to being accelerated, is not a built-in property of matter. Instead, the paper argued, inertia is a drag force produced as accelerating matter interacts with the electromagnetic "zero-point field" (ZPF) of the quantum vacuum. The work was funded by NASA and carried out at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, and at California State University, Long Beach.^[1][6] Michael Shellenberger's 2024 testimony to the House Oversight Committee lists the paper in its timeline. It also links the idea to a later U.S. Navy patent for a craft with an "inertial mass reduction device".^[10]

The paper

• Authors and affiliations. The revised paper lists Haisch at the Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory of Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto. Rueda is listed in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Physics & Astronomy at California State University, Long Beach, and Puthoff at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin, Texas.^[14]
• Versions. The arXiv preprint (physics/9807023) describes itself as a revised version of the invited Cleveland presentation, ten pages long with no figures. The second version is dated 22 July 1998.^[1][14] The infobox gives the date as August 1998, which matches Shellenberger's timeline.^[10] The text carries a 1998 copyright notice of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.^[14]
• Funding. The paper acknowledges support from NASA contract NASW-5050.^[14] Shellenberger's timeline adds that a later paper by the same group said the programme was NASA-funded, was independent of NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics programme and had begun in 1996.^[10][8]
• Other listings. Shellenberger cites the paper through ResearchGate and also cites a Springer book chapter and the later paper "Toward an Interstellar Mission: Zeroing in on the Zero-Point-Field Inertia Resonance". None of those pages could be read for this article.^{[6][7][8][10]}

The earlier version of this article described the research as "partly" funded by NASA. The paper itself calls it "a NASA-funded research effort" and says progress was made "thanks in part to a NASA research grant".^[1][14] The earlier version also said Haisch worked at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. The abstract places the research there, while the author listing names Lockheed Martin's Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto.^[1][14]

The theory

The paper built on a 1994 analysis by the same three authors, published in Physical Review A.^[5][14] By their own account, the 1994 work had two weaknesses: its mathematics was very complicated, and it depended on a simplified model of how matter interacts with the ZPF. Even so, it seemed to show that Newton's law of motion, f = ma, which physics had treated as a basic postulate since 1687, could be derived from Maxwell's laws of electrodynamics applied to the ZPF.^[14] The 1998 paper reported that this derivation had been redone in a simpler way. The new version did not depend on the old interaction model and was fully relativistic.^[1][14]

• The quantum vacuum. The authors began from the idea that a perfect vacuum is not empty. Under Heisenberg's uncertainty relations, it is filled with fluctuating fields, including an electromagnetic zero-point field that pervades the universe.^[14]
• Mass as drag. In their theory, mass is a kind of electromagnetic drag force. It depends on acceleration because of the spectrum of the ZPF. The authors noted that "electromagnetic drag" was a placeholder for a more general reaction of the quantum vacuum.^[1][14]
• Quarks and electrons. The interaction was said to take place at the level of quarks and electrons. That, they argued, would explain the mass of neutral composite particles such as the neutron.^[1]
• Four kinds of mass. The paper notes that physics recognises inertial mass, active gravitational mass, passive gravitational mass and relativistic rest mass. These are very different properties, yet they are measured by the same number, and the authors suggested the ZPF might explain why.^[14]
• E = mc². Drawing on Puthoff's 1989 work, they proposed that Einstein's mass–energy relation describes the kinetic energy that ZPF fluctuations give to quarks and electrons. On this view mass is "more a matter of bookkeeping than physics".^[14]
• The ZPF momentum flux. The companion paper by Rueda and Haisch in Physics Letters A explains the mechanism. In an accelerating frame, the standard relativistic transformations of electromagnetic fields give a non-zero flow of ZPF momentum. When an object scatters that flow, the reaction force can be read as part of its inertia.^[5]
• Higgs fields. If the idea is correct, that companion paper says, it would take the place of Mach's principle. It might also mean that no further Higgs-type mass-giving fields are needed to explain inertia, although the zero-point fields of the other fundamental forces might also have to be included.^[5]

Resonances

A central open question in the 1998 paper was whether the ZPF–matter interaction that produces mass involves one or more resonances.^[1] The 1994 analysis had used a cut-off frequency, such as the Planck frequency. The authors suggested replacing it with a resonance frequency specific to each particle.^[14] They gave several examples of what this would mean:

• The electron. In the Dirac theory, an electron's motion includes a very fast trembling at the speed of light, which Schrödinger called zitterbewegung. In the paper's interpretation, the ZPF drives a massless point charge to oscillate within a region the size of its Compton wavelength. The "electron cloud" of that size is what acquires the electron's measured mass.^[14]
• Quarks and nuclei. The authors imagined that up and down quarks have different resonances and that a bound group of quarks has a quite different resonance as a whole. This would explain why a proton or neutron has a different mass from the sum of its parts. The same reasoning could account for the "mass defect" of a helium nucleus, and the energy released in fusion would then come from the ZPF.^[14]
• Changing mass. If mass depends on a resonance, the mass of a single particle might change if its resonance could be altered from outside. The paper speculates that vacuum modes might one day be modified even at high energies, perhaps with strong fields. As loose analogies it cites the different "effective mass" of electrons in silicon and gallium arsenide, and a reported change in a meson's effective mass during heavy-ion collisions.^[14]

Shellenberger's timeline describes the study as one that "specifically looked at one or more resonant frequencies" of quantum-vacuum interaction "for propulsion purposes".^[10] The paper itself says the resonance question was "presently under investigation".^[1]

Gravity and propulsion

Because the principle of equivalence links inertia and gravitation, the authors argued that gravity, too, would originate in the quantum vacuum, along lines proposed by the physicist Andrei Sakharov in 1968.^[1][14] They pictured gravity as a kind of long-range van der Waals force. In their picture, every quark and electron is driven by the ZPF to oscillate, each oscillating charge produces tiny fields of its own, and so each particle feels the ZPF slightly changed by its neighbours.^[14] The paper also answered a common objection, that the energy of a real ZPF would curve spacetime enormously. Its reply was that, on Puthoff's 1989 development of Sakharov's idea, the ZPF by itself cannot be a source of gravity.^[14]

The authors were frank about the weaknesses of this part of the work. They called the ZPF theory of gravitation "only in the exploratory stage". They acknowledged that Puthoff's 1989 inverse-square-law calculation "has since been shown to be problematic", citing the physicist Steve Carlip's critique, Puthoff's reply and a 1998 paper by Cole, Danley and Rueda. They also noted that they could not yet account for the bending of light by gravity.^[14]

On propulsion, the paper reached two conclusions:^[1][14]

• Ruled out. Matter with negative inertial mass, a concept going back to H. Bondi in 1957, is logically impossible under the theory. In the paper's words, an object cannot "turn around" the reaction force it meets on accelerating into the ZPF momentum flux: "What you move into comes at you."
• Opened up. If inertia and gravity are both vacuum phenomena, it becomes conceivable in principle to manipulate them. The authors hoped this might one day lead to real technology, "especially with respect to spacecraft propulsion and future interstellar travel capability".

The paper set this work in the context of NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics programme, which it described as "very modest" in cost but "intellectually ambitious". It quotes the programme's three goals: propelling a vehicle without propellant mass, reaching the highest speeds physically possible, and finding new ways to power such devices. The programme was managed by Marc Millis of NASA's Lewis Research Center. At its first workshop, in August 1997, research on ZPF vacuum fluctuations was given a high priority.^[14] (See the 1997 NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics workshop.)

The Casimir argument

To support treating the ZPF as a real field, the authors pointed to the Casimir force, the small attraction between two uncharged conducting plates placed very close together. They cited S. K. Lamoreaux's 1997 measurements, which agreed with theory at about the five per cent level. One interpretation treats the Casimir force as radiation pressure from ZPF modes that are excluded from the gap between the plates.^[14] The authors proposed that inertia is "a Casimir-like acceleration-dependent drag force". Just as building an uncharged parallel-plate condenser produces a real, measurable Casimir force, accelerating an object would produce a real reaction force, which we experience as inertia.^[14] They added that energy extraction from the vacuum had been shown not to violate thermodynamics, in a 1993 paper by Cole and Puthoff.^[14]

Reception

The group's papers appeared in mainstream journals. The companion paper by Rueda and Haisch, "Inertia as reaction of the vacuum to accelerated motion", was published in Physics Letters A, volume 240 (1998), pages 115–126.^[5][2] The ideas also drew criticism:

• The 1994 paper. According to the Wikipedia account of Puthoff, the 1994 inertia paper was the subject of a news article in Science. A later analysis by Yefim S. Levin raised many questions about the mathematical correctness of its formula and its non-relativistic treatment of magnetic effects. Levin concluded that the model does not show inertia arising from zero-point-field effects.^[3]
• The 1989 gravity paper. Steve Carlip argued that one of Puthoff's 1989 papers contained a serious computational error that made the effect negligible. Puthoff replied that a different parameter value would restore the model's usefulness.^[3]
• Status of the field. The Wikipedia account of stochastic electrodynamics, the classical framework the theory uses, lists inertia and gravitation among its "more controversial" claims, some of which have faced published criticism.^[15]

The earlier version of this article described the idea as a minority hypothesis that has not been confirmed experimentally or gained mainstream acceptance. Its controversial standing is supported by the sources above. That it has never been confirmed by experiment is not covered in the sources read here.^[2][3][15]

Connections

• Later vacuum-propulsion work. The Wikipedia account of zero-point energy records that in 2002 Froning and Roach published a paper building on the work of Puthoff, Haisch and Alcubierre. They modelled a vehicle's interaction with the zero-point field and found that a saucer-shaped vehicle with toroidal electromagnetic fields was the best shape for the negative energy an Alcubierre drive needs. It also records a 2008 patent by Haisch and Garret Moddel for a device meant to extract power from zero-point fluctuations, using gas circulating through a Casimir cavity.^[4]
• Puthoff's later career. In 1995 Puthoff joined the National Institute for Discovery Science, a UFO and paranormal research group funded by Robert Bigelow. In 2008 he joined Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, and in 2017 he co-founded To the Stars with Tom DeLonge.^[3]
• AAWSAP reports. The earlier version said Puthoff later chose the topics for the Pentagon-funded AAWSAP technical reports. Shellenberger's timeline describes the 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents as produced "under the direction of Hal Puthoff". The Defense Intelligence Agency released 37 of them on 25 March 2022, covering subjects such as antigravity, cloaking and quantum vacuum propulsion.^[12] Quotations from Skinwalkers at the Pentagon on the Metabunk forum support the earlier wording more directly. They say Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies contracted Puthoff "to choose the precise nature and scope" of the approximately 38 position papers.^[16]
• The Pais patent. Shellenberger's timeline notes that the "triangle antigravity craft patent" filed by Salvatore Pais of Naval Air Station Patuxent River used a similar concept. It "discussed specific frequencies used to interact with the quantum vacuum and generate anti-gravitic capabilities".^[10][11] For more, see Salvatore Pais patents.

The Google Patents record for publication US20170313446A1, "Craft Using an Inertial Mass Reduction Device", lists application US15/141,270, dated 28 April 2016, which became patent US10144532B2. Its status is now shown as "Expired – Fee Related". The patent's text says the inventor's craft would reduce its inertia "by polarizing the vacuum in the close proximity of the moving craft", and it credits the idea of vacuum polarization to Harold Puthoff.^[13][9] Shellenberger's timeline states that the patent was first rejected. James Sheehy, chief technology officer of the Naval Aviation Enterprise, then appealed to the patent office, saying "it will become a reality" and that China was already investing in such work, after which the patent was approved.^[11] The earlier version said the patent has not been shown to describe working technology. That is not covered in the sources read here.

People and topics

• Harold Puthoff — Physicist who co-founded the SRI remote-viewing research and later worked on AAWSAP and To The Stars Academy.
• Lockheed Martin — The aerospace company whose Skunk Works built the U-2, SR-71 and F-117.
• Zero-point energy — The lowest possible energy of a physical system, which some hope to tap for power.
• Bernard Haisch — Astrophysicist at Lockheed who co-developed the zero-point field theory of inertia.
• Alfonso Rueda — Physicist who co-developed the zero-point field theory of inertia.
• NASA — The U.S. civilian space agency, created in 1958.
• Breakthrough Propulsion Physics — NASA's 1996–2002 study of speculative propulsion ideas.
• U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
• Salvatore Pais — Navy engineer who filed patents for exotic propulsion concepts.

On the Timeline

• University of South Carolina gravity generator (1 March 1998) — University of South Carolina scientists say they are developing a 'gravity generator'.
• Nick Cook's Skunk Works chart (Late 1990s) — Author Nick Cook claims he glimpsed a chart of secret Skunk Works projects.

See every 1998 event on the UAP Timeline →

Further reading

References

Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Harold E. Puthoff”, “Zero-point energy”, “Stochastic electrodynamics”, “Stochastic electrodynamics”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.