What is nothingness? It's a philosophical question, to be sure, but in physics the ground state of the universe can't be described by the absence of all matter, contend some theoretical physicists. There must be a 'quantum vacuum'.

The first theoretical consideration of the spontaneous decay of the quantum vacuum, believed to be a complex state of constantly fluctuating quantum fields with physical properties, dates back to the year 1931, but understanding is still in its infancy.

But it could soon happen that experimentalists are able to witness the spontaneous decay of the vacuum into pairs of particles of matter and antimatter in super strong electric fields. 

"A great challenge in modern theoretical physics is the description of quantum fields out of equilibrium," says Professor Dr. Holger Gies from the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena. "We are facing this problem in phase transitions in the early Universe as well as in many experiments in solid state physics. "We are facing this problem in phase transitions in the early Universe as well as in many experiments in solid state physics."

Experimental proof of  vacuum decay – as it might be delivered by high intensity lasers in the near future – will provide new insight into these fields.

Scientists from Graz and Jena say they have calculated the time evolution of the vacuum decay in detail. According to the results particles of matter and antimatter behave in a novel self-focusing way and therefore the possibility of discovering them is higher than expected. "The quantum vacuum has already had some surprises in store," says Gies. "To unbalance this nothingness could develop into a new prolific field of research."