Vacuum catastrophe
Encyclopedia
In cosmology
the vacuum catastrophe refers to the disagreement of 107 orders of magnitude between the upper bound upon the vacuum energy
density
as inferred from data obtained from the Voyager
spacecraft of less than 1014 GeV
/m3 and the zero-point energy of 10121 GeV/m3 calculated using quantum field theory
. This discrepancy has been termed "the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics!"
This problem was identified at an early stage by Walther Nernst
, who raised the question of the consequences of such a huge energy of vacuum on gravitational effects. A recent philosophical and historical assessment is provided by Rugh and Zinkernagel.
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
the vacuum catastrophe refers to the disagreement of 107 orders of magnitude between the upper bound upon the vacuum energy
Vacuum energy
Vacuum energy is an underlying background energy that exists in space even when the space is devoid of matter . The concept of vacuum energy has been deduced from the concept of virtual particles, which is itself derived from the energy-time uncertainty principle...
density
Energy density
Energy density is a term used for the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume. Often only the useful or extractable energy is quantified, which is to say that chemically inaccessible energy such as rest mass energy is ignored...
as inferred from data obtained from the Voyager
Voyager program
The Voyager program is a U.S program that launched two unmanned space missions, scientific probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment of the late 1970s...
spacecraft of less than 1014 GeV
Electronvolt
In physics, the electron volt is a unit of energy equal to approximately joule . By definition, it is equal to the amount of kinetic energy gained by a single unbound electron when it accelerates through an electric potential difference of one volt...
/m3 and the zero-point energy of 10121 GeV/m3 calculated using quantum field theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
. This discrepancy has been termed "the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics!"
This problem was identified at an early stage by Walther Nernst
Walther Nernst
Walther Hermann Nernst FRS was a German physical chemist and physicist who is known for his theories behind the calculation of chemical affinity as embodied in the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in chemistry...
, who raised the question of the consequences of such a huge energy of vacuum on gravitational effects. A recent philosophical and historical assessment is provided by Rugh and Zinkernagel.