Casimir cosmology

TL;DR

This paper explores how Casimir physics, through Lifshitz theory, may explain dark energy and resolve cosmological measurement tensions, offering a quantum vacuum perspective aligned with astronomical observations.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Casimir and Lifshitz theories can quantitatively match dark energy's effects and address the Hubble constant discrepancy, linking quantum vacuum phenomena to cosmology.

Findings

Lifshitz theory aligns with dark energy magnitude

Casimir physics potentially explains cosmic acceleration

Resolves Hubble constant tension

Abstract

In 1998 astronomers discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Somehow, something must have made gravity repulsive on cosmological scales. This something was called dark energy; it is described by Einstein's cosmological constant; and it amounts to about 70% of the total mass of the universe. It has been conjectured that the cosmological constant is a form of vacuum energy, but its prediction from quantum field theory has failed by many orders of magnitude, until recently. Informed by empirical evidence on Casimir forces, Lifshitz theory has not only produced the correct order of magnitude, but is quantitatively consistent with the astronomical data. Moreover, the theory appears to resolve the tension between the measured and the predicted Hubble constant. There is therefore a good chance that Casimir physics explains dark energy. This article introduces cosmology for practitioners of vacuum forces as part of "The State of the Quantum Vacuum: Casimir Physics in the 2020s" edited by K. A. Milton. It may also be interesting for other physicists and engineers who wish to have a concise introduction to cosmology.