Gluonic vacuum, q-theory, and the cosmological constant

TL;DR

This paper applies q-theory to quantum chromodynamics to estimate the cosmological constant based on gluon condensates, connecting microscopic QCD properties with macroscopic cosmological observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach linking q-theory with QCD gluon condensates to estimate the vacuum energy density in an expanding universe.

Findings

Estimated vacuum energy density as K_{QCD}^3 / E_{Planck}^2

Derived the cosmological constant using QCD parameters and general relativity

Provided a theoretical link between microscopic QCD phenomena and cosmological constant

Abstract

In previous work, q-theory was introduced to describe the gravitating macroscopic behavior of a conserved microscopic variable q. In this article, the gluon condensate of quantum chromodynamics is considered in terms of q-theory. The remnant vacuum energy density (i.e., cosmological constant) of an expanding universe is estimated as K_{QCD}^3 / E_{Planck}^2, with string tension K_{QCD} \approx (10^2 MeV)^2 and gravitational scale E_{Planck} \approx 10^{19} GeV. The only input for this estimate is general relativity, quantum chromodynamics, and the Hubble expansion of the present Universe.