Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Naive calculations in quantum field theory suggest that vacuum fluctuations should induce an enormous cosmological constant. What if these estimates are right? I argue that even a huge cosmological constant might be hidden in Planck-scale fluctuations of geometry and topology — what Wheeler called “spacetime foam” — while remaining virtually invisible macroscopically.
Author: Steven Carlip
Institution: University of California, Davis
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W2946477203