Modern scientific theories perceive the vacuum of space as being filled with imaginary particles and their antiparticles. These two kinds of particles have opposing physical properties, such that when they are spatially and temporally coincident, the pair cannot be experimentally observed or measured. These particles become observable only when they are perturbed sufficiently that they become separated and independent of each other. Prior to their appearance, these pre-emergent particles are called virtual particles.
From a cosmological perspective, it is not unreasonable to suppose that prior to the first moment of creation of the bubble of matter and energy observable as our universe only the quantum vacuum existed within an infinite and flat space-time. This possibility is suggested by Genesis I: 3 – 4, when it says, “And God said, let there be light [heat energy and radiation]: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness [removed energy from the quantum void and partitioned it within the visible universe]”. Evidently, the authors of the Bible felt quantum mechanics at some level.

For a better appreciation of the above, imagine that a high energy gamma ray (a very energetic photon or quanta of radiation emitted when a nucleus undergoes transition) interacts with a virtual particle-pair existing in a certain infinitesimally small region of space-time. Given sufficient energy exchange between the visible gamma photon and the seemingly invisible virtual particle-pair, the virtual pair can be torn asunder and some of the energy of the gamma photon is converted into matter associated with the previous virtual particle-pair and these particles appear in the observable world as separate entities. What was once invisible to our instruments and seemingly non-existent is now as real to us as any other chunk of matter. It is probable that many other kinds of energies or forces lay hidden from our physical senses and instruments.

The quantum concept of a vacuum as containing a formless sea of chaotic particles and antiparticle pairs, the creative waters of Nun, rather than nothing, is not simply a theoretical concept. In 1948, the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir predicted some unusual properties for a vacuum containing virtual particles. His predictions were experimentally verified in 1958.

Casimir’s hypothesized that if two parallel plates were placed in a vacuum made up of virtual particles then the pressure between the plates (one ten millionth of a centimeter apart) would be less than the pressure outside the plates. This strange prediction was based upon the observation that when we cool down a physical system very near to absolute zero on the Kelvin scale, all the noise and thermal motion will eventually cease leaving only the activity of the virtual particles to subsist as demanded by the uncertainty principle. Now since all matter has wave-like properties certain restrictions will arise upon what kinds of waves can exist outside and inside the plates. Outside the plates, any possible wavelength fluctuations can exist, inside the plates only fluctuations having wavelengths fitting exactly between the plates can exist. Clearly, more waves can exist outside the plates than inside the plates; consequently, the energy or pressure outside is greater than inside. This means that the energy between the plates is negative relative to the outside since less virtual particles are enclosed. Therefore, the mean energy of the vacuum must be greater than zero so energy is available at the Planck moment to create visible energy and matter.

In 1951, Julian Schwinger proved that when a high voltage was applied across a set of Casimir plates maintained in a vacuum that it was possible to convert virtual particles into real particles without an observable violation of the laws of energy conservation (some of the energy of the electric field was added to the virtual particles as mass). All of these experiments are consistent with the possibility of the creation of real matter from an unobserved source at the Planck moment.

In 1953, Willis Lamb observed the effects of this constant creation and annihilation of hidden particles upon the energy levels of mundane atoms.

Although the uncertainty principle allows for the possibility of the local non-conservation of energy for quantum events, such as the exchange of a meson, or pion, between a neutron and proton, happening over extremely small time intervals, ie, 10**-24 seconds,

                dE*dt < h/2*pi or dt < h/4*pi*m*c**2 < 10**-24 seconds                     (6)

such non-conservation will be resolved and go undetected by the time the process is completed. The energy of the exchange particle, or gauge boson, “during the exchange”, similar to the creation of virtual particles, must, however, be borrowed from somewhere and paid back. Such events suggest that the actual, total, mean zero-point energy of the pre-emergent and emergent universes must be immensely greater than the moc2 energy of all the luminous and nonluminous mass currently existing within the visible horizon of our universe (approximately 15 billion light-years in radius).(4) This excess in the zero-point energy suggests that some particular primitive substance may underlie the observable universe, such as the material-hyle of JG Bennett, the prima materia of the alchemists, the ethernokrilno of Gurdjieff or the spirit energy of the Rosicrucians. [2016 Note: I utilize a new model to explain the structure of the universe, both material and aphysical, which is more consistent than the original model postulating a primitive material energy per se.]