Vacuum (disambiguation)

Vacuum is the absence of matter.

Vacuum may also refer to:

Science and natural phenomenon

• Suction, the flow of fluid into an area with a lower pressure
• Vacuum arc, when electrodes emit an electric arc or "spark" in a vacuum
• Vacuum state, the quantum state with the lowest possible energy
• False vacuum, in Quantum field theory, a metastable vacuum state that is not the lowest energy state
• QED vacuum, the vacuum state of quantum electrodynamics
• QCD vacuum, the vacuum state of quantum chromodynamics

Devices

• Vacuum cleaner, a home appliance which uses suction to remove dirt
• Vacuum pump, used to remove gas molecules from a sealed volume to yield a partial vacuum
• Vacuum brake, which uses vacuum to actuate brake pistons, once used with railroad trains
• Vacuum flask, a container which uses a region of vacuum to insulate its contents
• Vacuum furnace, a very high temperature furnace which uses vacuum insulation
• Vacuum servo, used on motor vehicles to increase braking force applied by the driver
• Vacuum tube, or "valve", a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum.

Engineering techniques and phenomenon

• Vacuum packing, a method of storing food or material by keeping it in an airless environment
• Vacuum grease, any lubricant used for applications in low pressure environments
• Manifold vacuum, the pressure difference between an internal combustion engine's intake manifold and atmosphere
• Ultra-high vacuum, a terrestrial vacuum achieved by pumping all matter out of a region to as great an extent as is possible, resulting at present in a pressure of less than 10⁻⁷ pascal

Other

• Vacuum Oil Company, an 1866 US petroleum company, now part of ExxonMobil
• Vacuum (band), a musical group from Sweden.
• Power vacuum, a political situation lacking an obvious central authority or leadership
• The Vacuum, a monthly newspaper published in Belfast