A short-lived variation in the amount of energy at a point in space occurring as a result of the uncertainty principle, which allows the law of the conservation of energy to be temporarily violated and very short-lived particles to be spontaneously created and annihilated.
Origin
1950s.
Definition of quantum fluctuation in US English:
quantum fluctuation
noun
A short-lived variation in the amount of energy at a point in space occurring as a result of the uncertainty principle, which allows the law of the conservation of energy to be temporarily violated and very short-lived particles to be spontaneously created and annihilated.