11 November 2014 79 4K Report

The biggest discrepancy in all of physics is the approximately 10120 difference between the energy density of the universe obtained from general relativity (GR) compared to the energy density of the vacuum obtained from quantum mechanics (QM). Cosmological observation proves that the universe is flat spacetime on the large scale. According to GR this implies that the universe on the large scale matches the “critical” energy density of about 8.5×10-10 J/m3. This number includes ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy. On the other hand, QM and field theory says that there is tremendous energy density in the vacuum itself that is roughly 10120 times greater than the critical density. This is known as: vacuum energy, zero point energy, vacuum foam, etc. and has nothing to do with dark energy or the cosmological constant. Quantum field theory says that all fundamental particles are excitations in their respective fields. These fields also imply tremendous energy density. For example, the Higgs field has been calculated to possess about 1046 J/m3. Does this vacuum energy density really exist or is it canceled out by some unknown effect? How is this vacuum energy reconciled with GR which specifies a critical density to achieve flat spacetime?

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