Zero-point energy is the ground-state energy above the classical minimum, remaining even at zero temperature. For a harmonic oscillator it is ; simultaneous vanishing position and momentum fluctuations is forbidden by the uncertainty principle.
A concrete test is the Casimir interaction: changing conducting boundaries changes electromagnetic ground-state modes and produces a measurable force. Ideal parallel plates have pressureA torsion-pendulum experiment measured the attraction of closely spaced conducting surfaces, testing this boundary-dependent interaction.[ref]
Demonstration of the Casimir Force in the 0.6 to 6 micrometre Range by S. K. Lamoreaux. Physical Review Letters 78, 5 (1997), primary abstract: electromechanical torsion-pendulum measurement; later erratum noted in bibliography
Such measurements test changes in ground-state energy, not an arbitrary absolute additive vacuum energy; real-material and thermal corrections must be included when comparing precision data. Articles by others on the same topic
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