Evidence for a Cosmological Phase Transition From the Dark Energy Scale

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the observed dark energy results from a cosmological phase transition linked to vacuum energy and gravitational modes, suggesting modifications to thermal equations of state and implications for CMB fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interpretation of dark energy as vacuum energy of gravitational modes and explores the consequences of a cosmological phase transition on early universe dynamics.

Findings

Dark energy can be explained by vacuum energy of gravitational modes.

A phase transition can produce CMB fluctuations consistent with observations.

Quantum measurability constrains cosmological scales and expansion rates.

Abstract

A finite vacuum energy density implies the existence of a UV scale for gravitational modes. This gives a phenomenological scale to the dynamical equations governing the cosmological expansion that must satisfy constraints consistent with quantum measurability and spatial flatness. Examination of these constraints for the observed dark energy density establishes a time interval from the transition to the present, suggesting major modifications from the thermal equations of state far from Planck density scales. The assumption that a phase transition initiates the radiation dominated epoch is shown under several scenarios to produce fluctuations to the CMB of the order observed. Quantum measurability constraints (eg. uncertainly relations) define cosmological scales bounded by luminal expansion rates. It is shown that the dark energy can consistently be interpreted as being due to the vacuum energy of collective gravitational modes which manifest as the zero-point motions of coherent Planck scale mass units prior to the UV scale onset of gravitational quantum de-coherence for the cosmology.