According to a theory proposed by Walther Nernst in 1916, empty space (or the ether) was a reservoir of zero-point electromagnetic radiation with an energy density of the order \(10^{23}\) erg cm\(^{-3}\). Nernst’s idea implied a new picture of empty space in which heavy atomic nuclei might emerge from vacuum fluctuations, and he would later develop it into a speculative cosmological theory. Although a few physicists found it interesting, the majority either ignored it or dismissed it as unfounded. Only much later has this early idea been reevaluated and seen as an anticipation of the vacuum of modern quantum physics.

Nernst's Cosmic Quantum-Ether theory proposed that empty space was a reservoir of zero-point electromagnetic radiation, with heavy atomic nuclei emerging from vacuum fluctuations.

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Nernst’s Cosmic Quantum-Ether

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