Vacuum Energy: Myths and Reality

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dc.creatorVolovik, G. E.
dc.date2006-04-14
dc.date2006-07-10
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:24:17Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:24:17Z
dc.descriptionWe discuss the main myths related to the vacuum energy and cosmological constant, such as: ``unbearable lightness of space-time''; the dominating contribution of zero point energy of quantum fields to the vacuum energy; non-zero vacuum energy of the false vacuum; dependence of the vacuum energy on the overall shift of energy; the absolute value of energy only has significance for gravity; the vacuum energy depends on the vacuum content; cosmological constant changes after the phase transition; zero-point energy of the vacuum between the plates in Casimir effect must gravitate, that is why the zero-point energy in the vacuum outside the plates must also gravitate; etc. All these and some other conjectures appear to be wrong when one considers the thermodynamics of the ground state of the quantum many-body system, which mimics macroscopic thermodynamics of quantum vacuum. In particular, in spite of the ultraviolet divergence of the zero-point energy, the natural value of the vacuum energy is comparable with the observed dark energy. That is why the vacuum energy is the plausible candidate for the dark energy.
dc.description24 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the special issue of Int. J. Mod. Phys. devoted to dark energy and dark matter, IJMP style
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0604062
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0604062
dc.identifierInt.J.Mod.Phys.D15:1987-2010,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1142/S0218271806009431
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/176131
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.subjectStatistical Mechanics
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenology
dc.titleVacuum Energy: Myths and Reality
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