Question

What is the zero point energy? How does this differ from classical mechanics? Give examples where the zero point energy can be found.

Answer 1

It is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have, and can be said as the energy of its ground state.The fact that even at a temperature of absolute zero, any substance must have a certain minimum energy. This energy is referred to as zero-point energy.

In classical mechanics it was assumed that a particle can exist in a state of minimum potential energy and have zero kineticenergy. In this case the particle is at stable equilibrium and has a minimum energy equal to the potential energy a
the equilibrium point.

Eg -
The vacuum energy is the zero-point energy of all the fields in space