As far as I understand, it is understood that throughout the universe there exis

Question

As far as I understand, it is understood that throughout the universe there exists, what is known as, a quantum field from which, due to its fluctuations, temporary (pairs of) virtual particles continuously appear in a random, unpredictable (or should I say probabilistic?) fashion.

For my idea to have any viability, I am assuming that this quantum field is an intrinsic part of reality, that existed "before" or rather at the time of the Big Bang already. Is this a correct assumption? Or is it believed that this quantum field was "formed" at the time, or perhaps even later than, the moment of the Big Bang? I hope not.

Assuming the former, and also understanding that those pairs of virtual particles typically annihilate each other almost instantaneously, but sometimes actually create real particles

Explanation / Answer

The idea that the universe is a vacuum flucuation has been around a long time. The first public mention of the idea I know of is from Edward Tryon in 1973, but I bet it had been discussed long before that. Do you have access to old copies of Nature? If so have a look at "Is the Universe a Vacuum Fluctuation?" by Edward Tryon, Nature 246, 396 - 397 (14 December 1973).

Alexander Vilenkin developed the idea further in 1982, and his paper is available online at http://mukto-mona.net/science/physics/a_vilinkin/universe_from_nothing.pdf.

The bottom line is that we don't understand the physics well enough to know if there is any foundation to these ideas, and no-one has come up with any experimental way to test them. I should note that the various theories of quantum gravity have come up with scenarios in which the universe wasn't created at the Big Bang but has existed (potentially at least) forever. From String Theory we have the ekpyrotic universe, and from loop quantum cosmology the idea that there might have been a Big Bounce.

I suspect most physicists would regard the question as philosophy rather than physics.

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