If Einstein's theory thus throws light on the rest of physics, the rest of physics also throws light on geometrodynamics. No point is more central than this, that empty space is not empty. It is the seat of the most violent physics. The electromagnetic field fluctuates (Chapter 43). virtual pairs of positive and negative electrons, in effect, are continually being created and annihilated, and likewise pairs of mu mesons, pairs of baryons, and pairs of other particles. All these fluctuations coexist with the quantum fluctuations in the geometry and topology of space.