Cosmological constant problem
| Beyond the Standard Model |
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| Standard Model |
In cosmology, the cosmological constant problem is the disagreement in measured values of the cosmological constant. In general relativity, the value is measured by the vacuum energy density to be a small value. In cosmological constant, the zero-point energy suggested by c[clarification needed], is measured to be much larger.
Depending on the assumptions[which?], the discrepancy ranges from 40 to more than 100 orders of magnitude, a state of affairs described by Hobson et al. (2006) as "the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics."[1]
Overview
Gravitational description
The basic problem of a vacuum energy producing a gravitational effect was identified as early as 1916 by Walther Nernst.[2][further explanation needed]
The value was predicted[according to whom?] to be either zero or very small[why?], so that the theoretical problem was already apparent, and began to be actively discussed in the 1970s.
Importance in cosmology
With the development of inflationary cosmology in the 1980s, the problem became much more important: as cosmic inflation is driven by vacuum energy, differences in modeling vacuum energy leads to huge differences in the resulting cosmologies.[3][further explanation needed]
The problem became increasingly central as an obstacle[why?] to theoretical progress during the later 1980s and the 1990s, and was variously dubbed an "unexplained puzzle"[citation needed], a "veritable crisis"[citation needed] and "the most striking problem in contemporary fundamental physics"[citation needed].
Quantum description
After the development of quantum field theory in the 1940s, the first to address contributions of quantum fluctuations to the cosmological constant was Zel’dovich (1967, 1968).[4][further explanation needed]
Renormalization
The vacuum energy in quantum field theory can be set to any value by renormalization. This view treats the cosmological constant as simply another fundamental physical constant not predicted by theory.[5]
Measurement
The value of the cosmological constant was first measured in 1998.[according to whom?]
With the ability to measure the speed of gravity[clarification needed], its relation to the speed of light may soon provide confirmation of which theories[further explanation needed] and models best fit the cosmological constant.[6][7]
See also
References
- ^ MP Hobson, GP Efstathiou & AN Lasenby (2006). General Relativity: An introduction for physicists (Reprint ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-521-82951-9.
- ^ W Nernst (1916). "Über einen Versuch von quantentheoretischen Betrachtungen zur Annahme stetiger Energieänderungen zurückzukehren". Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft (in German). 18: 83.
- ^ S. Weinberg “The cosmological constant problem”, Review of Modern Physics 61 (1989), 1-23.
- ^ Zel’dovich, Y.B., ‘Cosmological Constant and Elementary Particles’ JETP letters 6 (1967), 316-317 and ‘The Cosmological Constant and the Theory of Elementary Particles’ Soviet Physics Uspekhi 11 (1968), 381-393.
- ^ Rugh and Zinkernagel (2002), 36ff.
- ^ "Quest to settle riddle over Einstein's theory may soon be over". phys.org. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Lombriser, Lucas; Lima, Nelson A. (2017-02-10). "Challenges to self-acceleration in modified gravity from gravitational waves and large-scale structure". Physics Letters B. 765: 382–385. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2016.12.048.
- SE Rugh, H Zinkernagel; Zinkernagel (2002). "The quantum vacuum and the cosmological constant problem". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 33 (4): 663–705. doi:10.1016/S1355-2198(02)00033-3.