Related papers: The zero point energy and gravitation
We explore the properties of dark energy models for which the equation-of-state, w, defined as the ratio of pressure to energy density, crosses the cosmological-constant boundary w = -1. We adopt an empirical approach, treating the dark…
The energy density of the vacuum, Lambda, is at least 60 orders of magnitude smaller than several known contributions to it. Approaches to this problem are tightly constrained by data ranging from elementary observations to precision…
It is extraordinary that a number of observations indicate that we live in a spatially flat, low matter density Universe, which is currently undergoing a period of accelerating expansion. The effort to explain this current state has focused…
The quantum field theory of gravitation is constructed in terms of Lagrangian density of Dirac fields which couple to the electromagnetic field $A_\mu$ as well as the gravitational field $\cal G$. The gravity appears in the mass term as $…
The positive energy theorem precludes the possibility of Minkowski flat space decaying by any mechanism. In certain circumstances, however, large quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field could arise---not only at the Planck scale,…
We show that in imaginary time quantum metric fluctuations of empty space form a self-consistent de Sitter gravitational instanton that can be thought of as describing tunneling from "nothing" into de Sitter space of real time (no…
The recent detection of the gravitational wave signal GW170817 together with an electromagnetic counterpart GRB 170817A from the merger of two neutron stars puts a stringent bound on the tensor propagation speed. This constraint can be…
In a recent paper [J. Math. Phys. 47 082303 (2006)], Quantum Energy Inequalities were used to place simple geometrical bounds on the energy densities of quantum fields in Minkowskian spacetime regions. Here, we refine this analysis for…
I describe an approach which relates classical gravity to the quantum microstructure of spacetime. In this approach, the field equations arise from maximizing the density of states of the matter plus geometry. The former is identified using…
Dynamical vacuum energy or quintessence, a slowly varying and spatially inhomogeneous component of the energy density with negative pressure, is currently consistent with the observational data. One potential difficulty with the idea of…
A hierarchically small weak scale does not generally coincide with enhanced symmetry, but it may still be exceptional with respect to vacuum energy. By analyzing the classical vacuum energy as a function of parameters such as the Higgs…
Using an approximate solution to the $N$-body problem in general relativity, and the \emph{principle of local isotropy at any point}, we construct a cosmological model, with zero curvature, for a universe composed uniquely by collision-less…
The interaction between the quantum vacuum and a weak gravitational field is calculated for the vacuum fields of quantum electrodynamics. The result shows that the vacuum state is modified by the gravitational field, giving rise to a…
Quantum field theory allows for the suppression of vacuum fluctuations, leading to sub-vacuum phenomena. One of these is the appearance of local negative energy density. Selected aspects of negative energy will be reviewed, including the…
The consensus among many theoretical physicists is that the calculated contribution of the quantum vacuum to the total energy density of the universe is approximately $10^{121}$ times the observed energy density. This is thought to be one…
The highly non-trivial structure of the $\theta$--vacuum encodes many of the fundamental properties of gauge theories. In particular, the response of the vacuum to the $\theta$--term perturbation is sensitive to the existence of…
It is suggested that the vacuum expectation of the quantum vacuum energy-momentum is zero, but quantum fluctuations give rise to a space-time curvature equivalent to that of a cosmological constant or dark energy. Calculations within…
The Schr\"odinger-Newton equation is a proposed model to explain the localization of macroscopic particles by suppressing quantum dispersion with the particle's own gravitational attraction. On cosmic scales, however, dark energy also acts…
Quantum field theory predicts that vacuum energy (or what is the same, cosmological constant) should be 50-100 orders of magnitude larger than the existing astronomical limit. A very brief review of possible solutions of this problem is…
{We consider the Coma cluster of galaxies as a gravitationally bound physical system embedded in the perfectly uniform static dark energy background as implied by the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology.} {We ask if the density of dark energy is high…