Nothing Engine

A Casimir vacuum friction simulator built on Bogoliubov mode-function evolution coupled to dynamical plate motion.

What it does

Nothing Engine solves the quantum field theory of a scalar field inside a 1+1D cavity with one dynamical (moving) boundary. It evolves:

• Cavity mode functions f_n(t) via f_n'' + omega_n^2(q(t)) * f_n = 0
• Plate dynamics M * q'' = -k*(q - q_eq) + F_field with self-consistent radiation pressure feedback

This captures dynamical Casimir effect physics: a moving mirror creates real photons from the quantum vacuum, and those photons exert back-reaction on the mirror.

Installation

pip install -e ".[dev,analysis]"

Or with just the core dependencies:

pip install -e .

Quick start

from nothing_engine.core.bogoliubov import SimulationConfig, run_simulation

config = SimulationConfig(
    N_modes=64,
    plate_mass=1e4,
    initial_velocity=1e-3,
    cavity_width=1.0,
    duration=100.0,
)

result = run_simulation(config)
print(f"Total particles created: {result.particle_number[-1].sum():.6f}")

Running experiments

# Validation gates (run these first)
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.val_static_casimir
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.val_dynamic_casimir
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.val_conservation
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.val_adiabatic
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.val_residual_baseline

# Physics experiments
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.run_closed_ringdown
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.run_open_ringdown
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.run_convergence
python -m nothing_engine.experiments.run_topology_comparison

Running tests

pytest

Package structure

nothing_engine/
  core/             # Simulation engine
    bogoliubov.py   # ODE evolution (mode functions + plate)
    constants.py    # Physical constants (SI & natural units)
    mode_space.py   # Cavity mode frequencies & functions
    energy.py       # Energy density & totals
    energy_audit.py # Conservation monitoring
    plate.py        # DynamicalPlate class
    radiation_pressure.py
    flux.py
  analysis/         # Post-simulation analysis
    ringdown_fit.py # Exponential decay fitting
    psd_analysis.py # Power spectral density
    residual_motion.py
  experiments/      # Simulation runners & validation
    runner.py       # ExperimentRunner orchestration
    run_*.py        # Experiment scripts
    val_*.py        # Validation gate scripts
  config/           # Default parameters & validation criteria
  tests/            # Unit tests

License

MIT