Editing Quantum foam (section)

{{short description|Fluctuation of spacetime on very small scales}}
{{For|related articles|Quantum vacuum (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Q-foam.jpg|thumb|A graphic representation of Wheeler's calculations of what quantum reality may look like at the Planck length]]
'''Quantum foam''' (or '''spacetime foam''', or '''spacetime bubble''') is a theoretical [[quantum fluctuation]] of [[spacetime]] on very small scales due to [[quantum mechanics]]. The theory predicts that at this small scale, particles of matter and antimatter are constantly created and destroyed. These subatomic objects are called [[virtual particles]].<ref name=lincoln-foam/> The idea was devised by [[John Archibald Wheeler|John Wheeler]] in 1955.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Geons | bibcode=1955PhRv...97..511W | last=Wheeler | first=J. A. | journal=[[Physical Review]] |date=January 1955 | volume=97 | issue=2 | pages=511–536 | doi=10.1103/PhysRev.97.511}}</ref><ref name="VCE-20191024">{{cite news |last=Minsky |first=Carly |title=The Universe Is Made of Tiny Bubbles Containing Mini-Universes, Scientists Say – 'Spacetime foam' might just be the wildest thing in the known universe, and we're just starting to understand it. |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5yngp/the-universe-is-made-of-tiny-bubbles-containing-mini-universes-scientists-say |date=24 October 2019 |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=24 October 2019 }}</ref>