But what participates in these exchanges in, for instance, a quiet empty region of space? Everything. Literally. Energy (and momentum as well) is the ultimate convertible currency. E = mc2 tells us that energy can be turned into matter and vice versa. Thus if an energy fluctuation is big enough it can momentarily cause, for instance, an electron and its antimatter companion the positron to erupt into existence, even if the region was initially empty! Since this energy must be quickly repaid, these particles will annihilate one another after an instant, relinquishing the energy borrowed in
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