Warped vacuum energy by black holes

TL;DR

This paper explores how vacuum energy, traditionally considered constant, can vary locally near black holes within general relativity without additional matter, challenging the standard cosmological constant assumption.

Contribution

It demonstrates that vacuum energy can be non-uniform in extreme environments like black holes without needing new physics beyond general relativity.

Findings

Vacuum energy can acquire local properties near black holes.

Non-uniform vacuum energy does not require additional matter-energy.

The results challenge the traditional view of a constant cosmological term.

Abstract

The belief still persists, at least for an important part of the community, that in general relativity the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ must remain immaculate. However, Bianchi identities show that $\Lambda$ could acquire local properties in the presence of matter, i.e., $\Lambda\rightarrow\,\Lambda(x^\mu)$. In this paper we go even further, and we show that a non-uniform vacuum energy does not even require coexistence with any additional form of matter-energy, nor of any theory beyond general relativity, at least for extreme environments, such as the proximity of a black hole.