Zero Point Energy

Pioneering research in quantum field theory around 50 years ago proposed that the universe may be trapped in a false vacuum meaning it appears stable but in fact could be on the verge of transitioning to an even more stable - a true vacuum state. The transition from the false to the true vacuum can occur via quantum tunneling, a process allowed by quantum mechanics where a system can "tunnel" through an energy barrier instead of going over it.

A small region of space undergoes constant quantum fluctuations. These quantum fluctuations create what physicists call a "sea of virtual particles" that continuously appear and disappear in the vacuum and may under certain conditions spontaniously tunnel into the true vacuum state. The tunneling creates a bubble of true vacuum in the surrounding false vacuum. During the travel in the quantum tunnel the bubble gains energy and expands. Finally, the bubble pops. We call this a Bosenova explosion.

The pop of the bubble can be seen as in a balloon there is the outward pressure from the gas and the inward pressure derived from the surface tension. They are both pressures and they can be compared. The surface tension becomes an inward pressure thanks to the curvature of the balloon. As the balloon grows the curvature lower while the surface tension to generate the same inward pressure grow until the balloon can’t sustain the required tension anymore and it pops.