The vacuum component of the Universe (cosmological constant) should evolve

Abstract

The evolution of the vacuum component of the Universe is studied in both the quantum and classical regimes. Our Universe has emerged as a result of a tunneling process, beginning with an oscillating mode and passing on to a Friedmann mode, and it very probably had a high symmetry for the Planck parameters. In the first fractions of a second (the quantum regime), as it cooled, the vacuum component of the Universe lost its high degree of symmetry due to phase transitions; i.e., its positive energy density was subject to negative contributions from quantum field condensates (by 78 orders of magnitude). After the last (quark-hadron) phase transition, the vacuum energy “froze.” At this time (10−6 s), the vacuum energy density can be calculated using the formula of Zel’dovich and substituting the mean values of the pseudo-Goldstone boson (π-mesons) masses characterizing the chromodynamic vacuum. Chiral symmetrywas lost at that time. The dynamics of the equilibrium vacuum after its “hardening” is considered using the holographic principle. During the next 4 × 1017 s (the classical regime), the vacuum component of the Universe was reduced by 45 orders of magnitude due to the creation of new quantum states during its expansion. It is possible to solve the cosmological-constant problem using the holographic principle, since the 123 problematic orders of magnitude disappear in usual physical processes. The vacuum energy density is also calculated in the classical regime to a redshift of 1011 using a “cosmological calculator.”