Related papers: Weighing the Vacuum Energy
Describing the presently observable Universe as a self-sustained condensate of gravitons of size $H_0^{-1}$, with large occupation number $N$, we argue that the most probable value for the quantum vacuum energy is of the order of the…
The recent astronomical observations indicate that the expanding universe is homogeneous, isotropic and asymptotically flat. The Euclidean geometry of the universe enables to determine the total gravitational and kinetic energy of the…
Gravity, and the puzzle regarding its energy, can be understood from a gauge theory perspective. Gravity, i.e., dynamical spacetime geometry, can be considered as a local gauge theory of the symmetry group of Minkowski spacetime: the…
Vacuum energy is a simple model for dark energy driving an accelerated expansion of the universe. If the vacuum energy is inhomogeneous in spacetime then it must be interacting. We present the general equations for a spacetime-dependent…
A definition of gravitational energy is proposed for any theory described by a diffeomorphism-invariant Lagrangian. The mathematical structure is a Noether- current construction of Wald involving the boundary term in the action, but here it…
The vacuum is considered as some fluid emergent from the zero-point fluctuations of the quantum fields contributing to the vacuum energy density and pressure. The equation of vacuum state and the speed of vacuum sound-waves are deduced…
We define passive gravitational mass operator of a hydrogen atom in the post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity and show that it does not commute with energy operator, taken in the absence of gravitational field. Nevertheless,…
The regularized vacuum energy (or energy density) of a quantum field subjected to static external conditions is shown to satisfy a certain partial differential equation with respect to two variables, the mass and the "time" (ultraviolet…
The vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor $\left\langle 0\left| T_{\mu\nu} \right|0\right\rangle$ is calculated in several multiply connected flat spacetimes for a massive scalar field with arbitrary curvature coupling. We…
For field theories in one time and one space dimensions we propose an efficient method to compute the vacuum polarization energy of static field configurations that do not allow a decomposition into symmetric and anti--symmetric channels.…
It has recently been proposed that vacuum energy is zero in spite of the quantum-field fluctuations that occur everywhere, even at absolute zero. The implication is that dark energy must have a different origin, unrelated to vacuum energy.…
Starting from a new understanding of the vacuum energy problem based on the combination of the phase space regularization and the holographic bound, we argue that quantum gravity should be understood as gravitized quantum theory, that is,…
It is pointed out that quantum vacuum fluctuations may give rise to a curvature of space-time equivalent to the curvature currently attributed to dark energy. A simple calculation is made, which suggests that the value of the dark energy…
General relativity promotes space-time to a physical, dynamical object subject to equations of motion. Quantum gravity, accordingly, must provide a quantum framework for space-time, applicable on the smallest distance scales. Just like…
We compute the ground state energy of a massive scalar field in the background of a cylindrical shell whose potential is given by a delta function. The zero point energy is expressed in terms of the Jost function of the related scattering…
The {\em instability of vacuum energy} in de Sitter space as discussed recently by Polyakov is argued to be a generic feature when external gravitational fields are present. It is related to the existence of {\em forbidden} (by momentum…
We use the idea of the symmetry between the spacetime coordinates x^\mu and the energy-momentum p^\mu in quantum theory to construct a momentum space quantum gravity geometry with a metric s_{\mu\nu} and a curvature P^\lambda_{\mu\nu\rho}.…
A simple description of the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) problem for non-experts is presented. Basic features of cosmology with non-zero vacuum energy are discussed. The astronomical data which indicate that the universe is filled…
We calculate the vacuum (Casimir) energy for a scalar field with $\phi^4$ self-interaction in (1+1) dimensions non perturbatively, i.e., in all orders of the self-interaction. We consider massive and massless fields in a finite box with…
Vacuum energy remains the simplest model of dark energy which could drive the accelerated expansion of the Universe without necessarily introducing any new degrees of freedom. Inhomogeneous vacuum energy is necessarily interacting in…