La plénitude du vide

Does the void exist, and if so, why? How is it different from nothingness? How does it come about? The famous astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan retraces the great odyssey of the void, reminding us that since Antiquity it has captured the attention of philosophers, theologians, but also mathematicians and physicists. Trinh Xuan Thuan takes us back to the scientific beginnings of this notion and leads us through theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, right up until contemporary physics. He also reveals that there is well and truly a “productivity of the void” as ephemeral particles can emerge from it. Therefore, the void is thought to be full of virtual energy and in this sense, the void is not “nothing”. In particular, this productivity links the great spiritual traditions such as Taoism or Buddhism, which Trinh Xuan Thuan explains. This work also deals with cosmology, raising questions which have both a scientific and philosophical application: how did the universe move from non-existence to existence? What was the role of the void in the birth of the universe? How did the void manage to generate all of the beauty of the universe?

Le vide mathématique
L’horreur du vide
De vide et de l’éther
Le vide quantique
L’univers naît du vide
Le Tao du Vide
La réconciliation des contraires