Zero-energy universe

The zero-energy universe hypothesis proposes that the total amount of energy in the universe is exactly zero: its amount of positive energy in the form of matter is exactly canceled out by its negative energy in the form of gravity.[1] Some physicists, such as Lawrence Krauss, Stephen Hawking or Alexander Vilenkin, call or called this state "a universe from nothingness", although the zero-energy universe model requires both a matter field with positive energy and a gravitational field with negative energy to exist.[2] The hypothesis is broadly discussed in popular sources.[3][4][5] Other cancellation examples include the expected symmetric prevalence of right- and left-handed angular momenta of objects ("spin" in the common sense), the observed flatness of the universe, the equal prevalence of positive and negative charges, opposing particle spin in quantum mechanics, as well as the crests and troughs of electromagnetic waves, among other possible examples in nature.

  1. ^ "A Universe From Nothing lecture by Lawrence Krauss at AAI". YouTube. 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  2. ^ Isham, Christopher (14 July 1994). Quantum Cosmology and the Origin of the Universe (Speech). Lecture presented at the conference Cosmos and Creation. Cambridge University.
  3. ^ Lawrence M. Krauss (2012). A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing. Simon and Schuster. pp. 150-151. ISBN 978-1-4516-2445-8.
  4. ^ Edward P. Tryon, "Is the Universe a Vacuum Fluctuation?", Nature, vol. 246, p. 396–397, 1973.
  5. ^ Berkeley Lab, Smoot Group – http://aether.lbl.gov – Inflation for Beginners, JOHN GRIBBIN archived, 2014