RE: LHC starting up again
April 5, 2015 at 8:25 pm
(This post was last modified: April 5, 2015 at 8:44 pm by Alex K.)
All I can say is that if you embed the standard model into general relativity in the obvious most simpleminded fashion, any vacuum energy from the particles and fields looks like a contribution to Einstein's cosmological constant, which makes vacuum pressure.
Now, this construction breaks down near the planck energy, which is why we need more elaborate ideas about quantum gravity. But this doesn't seem to entirely negate the fact that the vacuum energy of the standard model looks like cosmological constant. One could argue that moving away from this picture would be more of a violation of occams razor more the other way around. That it seems far fetched that new phenomena coming in near the planck energy would precisely compensate the contributions to the cosmoligical constant.
But - since we do not know what precisely the complete picture of quantum gravity looks like, this entire argument might be spurious, and we'll only know for certain once we know how quantum gravity really works. However, in superstring theory, this line of argument holds and the huge contributions to the cosmological constant is indeed there.
Now, this construction breaks down near the planck energy, which is why we need more elaborate ideas about quantum gravity. But this doesn't seem to entirely negate the fact that the vacuum energy of the standard model looks like cosmological constant. One could argue that moving away from this picture would be more of a violation of occams razor more the other way around. That it seems far fetched that new phenomena coming in near the planck energy would precisely compensate the contributions to the cosmoligical constant.
But - since we do not know what precisely the complete picture of quantum gravity looks like, this entire argument might be spurious, and we'll only know for certain once we know how quantum gravity really works. However, in superstring theory, this line of argument holds and the huge contributions to the cosmological constant is indeed there.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
