Text: Recently it has been realized that spontaneous emission, for example, is not a fundamental property of matter as previously believed. Instead, it is actually a property of the atom-vacuum system and its virtual particle flux (VPF) exchange. It is also possible to alter the VPF exchange system and thus alter spontaneous emission. Cavity quantum electrodynamics is one of the recently uncovered examples by which spontaneous emission can be profoundly affected by altering (structuring) the vacuum states. See T. D. Lee, Chapter 25: Outlook, Possibility of Vacuum Engineering, Particle Physics and Introduction to Field Theory, Harwood Academic Publishers, New York, 1981, p. 826. Also Serge Haroche and Daniel Kleppner, Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics, Physics Today, Jan. 1989, p. 24-30.

See Also: RADIATION; HARMONIZATION

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