# The nature of the gravitational vacuum

## TL;DR

This paper proposes that the gravitational vacuum contains virtual, extended, compression-resistant microstates that resolve key issues like the information paradox and the cosmological constant problem by altering gravitational collapse and vacuum energy effects.

## Contribution

It introduces the concept of virtual extended microstates in the gravitational vacuum, providing a new perspective on gravitational physics and related paradoxes.

## Key findings

- Virtual microstates counteract suppression for large masses
- They halt gravitational collapse outside the horizon
- They reduce the impact of vacuum energy on spacetime curvature

## Abstract

The vacuum must contain virtual fluctuations of black hole microstates for each mass $M$. We observe that the expected suppression for $M\gg m_p$ is counteracted by the large number $Exp[S_{bek}]$ of such states. From string theory we learn that these microstates are extended objects that are resistant to compression. We argue that recognizing this `virtual extended compression-resistant' component of the gravitational vacuum is crucial for understanding gravitational physics. Remarkably, such virtual excitations have no significant effect for observable systems like stars, but they resolve two important problems: (a) gravitational collapse is halted outside the horizon radius, removing the information paradox; (b) spacetime acquires a `stiffness' against the curving effects of vacuum energy; this ameliorates the cosmological constant problem posed by the existence of a planck scale $\Lambda$.