The cosmological constant: 2nd order quantum-mechanical correction to the Newton gravity

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the cosmological constant arises as a second order quantum correction to Newtonian gravity, with implications for galaxy motion and the universe's expansion.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum-mechanical correction to gravity that naturally produces a cosmological constant without relying on vacuum energy.

Findings

The quantum CPTD is independent of vacuum energy density.

The CPTD contributes to galaxy motion consistent with observations.

The model predicts a residual quantum effect even when classical CC is zero.

Abstract

The work shows that the associated Einstein like gravity for the Klein-Gordon field shows the spontaneous emergence of the cosmological pressure tensor density (CPTD) that in the classical limit leads to the cosmological constant (CC). Even if the classical cosmological constant is set to zero, the model shows that exists a residual theory-derived quantum CPTD. The work shows that the cosmological constant can be considered as a second order quantum-mechanical correction to the Newtonian gravity. The outputs of the theory show that the expectation value of the CPTD is independent by the zero-point vacuum energy density and that it takes contribution only from the space where the mass is localized (and the space-time is curvilinear) while tending to zero as the space-time approaches to the flat vacuum. A developed model of scalar matter universe shows an overall cosmological effect of the CPTD on the motion of the galaxies that agrees with the astronomical observations.