Dark energy and neutrino mass from a transient vacuum particle pair model

Abstract

We propose that the transient vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields can be represented by transient vacuum quanta where both the lifetime and spatial extent are given by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, HUP. Accordingly, a quantum field fluctuation at any spatial site results in the creation of a transient HUP-limited vacuum pair, corresponding to the particle and the antiparticle associated with that quantum field. All HUP-limited vacuum pairs, both massive and massless, are found to be on-shell particles, and are indistinguishable from each other except for differences related to their exchange symmetry. We find that the net vacuum energy density of all HUP-limited vacuum pairs is identically zero at any energy where both bosonic and fermionic transient vacuum pairs are present. The net vacuum energy density, from zero energy to the Planck limit, is found to be proportional to that of the rest mass of the lightest fermion, the lowest mass neutrino eigenstate. This net energy density is equal to the observed dark energy density if the mass of the lightest neutrino eigenstate is 3.2[Formula: see text]meV. The model predicts the absolute values of the masses of the three neutrino mass eigenstates and of the three neutrino flavor eigenstates for both normal and inverted ordering. The sum of the neutrino masses is found to be below the Planck satellite upper limit of 120[Formula: see text]meV, and the neutrino mass sum for normal ordering is below the most stringent upper bound of 78[Formula: see text]meV, indicating a preference for normal ordering.