Cosmological voids and quantum violations of the weak energy conditions

Abstract

In this paper the consequences of quantum gravitational effects in cosmological voids are studied through the use of the well-known and reliably calculable long-range quantum corrections to the gravitational potential. The line-element corresponding to these quantum-modified voids in a Universe possessing a cosmological constant is obtained. It is shown that the quantum vacuum in the voids is interpretable, through Einstein's equations, as a highly rarefied effective anisotropic fluid permeating the voids. Contrary to the common belief that in our current epoch violations of the energy conditions only take place in relatively small regions of the Universe, it is argued that there may be extremely tiny quantum violations of the weak energy condition in cosmological voids and, therefore, in enormous regions occupying most of the volume of the Universe.