This post discusses the Cosmological Constant Problem and Buddha’s solution to it. Described as “the largest discrepancy between theory and experiment in all of science,” the discrepancy of the Cosmological Constant Problem between theory and experiment “is calculated to be between 50 and as many 120 orders of magnitude.”
Cosmological Constant “is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general relativity. He later removed it; however, much later, it was revived to express the energy density of space, or vacuum energy, that arises in quantum mechanics. It is closely associated with the concept of dark energy.”
Dark energy is, “In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe.”
The Cosmological Constant is closely related to dark energy because of the expansion of the universe.
Edwin Hubble was among the first to recognize that the universe expanded in the 1920s. Furthermore, it was not until March 15, 1929, that Hubble published his observation that the expansion of the universe was accelerating.
So, when Einstein first published his General Theory of Relativity in 1915, he had no idea that the universe was expanding. Therefore, he did not conceive the term that would later carry his name in his equation. However, in 1917, he introduced the mathematical term into his equation to comply with the then-accepted scientific view that the universe was static, assuming its value to be negative. Unfortunately, by 1931, science no longer deems the universe static but expanding. Einstein then abandoned his term, believing its value to be zero. By the late 1990s, however, scientists discovered that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. Einstein then reintroduced the term into his formula, “implying the possibility of a positive nonzero value for the cosmological constant,” which remains so until today. Later, he would call this whole episode his “biggest blunder.”
Today, the value of Einstein’s Cosmological Constant has been measured and is “in excellent agreement” with a value obtained through a theoretical model. Einstein’s Cosmological Constant is now officially positive.
This article, Cosmological Constant Problem, explains what causes the Problem.
“In cosmology, the cosmological constant problem or vacuum catastrophe is the substantial disagreement between the observed values of vacuum energy density (the small value of the cosmological constant) and the much larger theoretical value of zero-point energy suggested by quantum field theory.”
According to this article, “Vacuum energy is an underlying background energy that exists in space throughout the entire universe. The vacuum energy is a special case of zero-point energy that relates to the quantum vacuum.” Furthermore, according to this article, “the quantum vacuum state (also called the quantum vacuum or vacuum state) is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains no physical particles.”
However, according to the quantum field theory, physical particles do not exist anymore because quantum fields have replaced them as the foundational blocks of the universe. In this episode of Closer to Truth, Dr. Frank Wickek, a 2004 Nobel Laureate physicist, made it very clear as he told his host, “The most basic objects out of which to construct the universe are not particles but objects we call quantum fields.” We see particles as epiphenomena. They are kind of ripples on the deep structure.”
So, to satisfy the quantum vacuum state with the lowest possible energy with no particles, the quantum field theory suggests that the quantum field should not fluctuate. On the other hand, however, experiments suggest a “much larger theoretical value.”
To understand why that is the case, one must first understand a concept called “empty space is not empty.” According to the host of Empty Space is Not Empty, Veritasium, “empty space is not truly empty… because I have seen it.” What he referred to was the following short supercomputer-generated simulation by Professor Derek Leinweber of the University of Adelaide.
Veritasium continued, “What we see is a bubbling soup of quantum field fluctuations that come and go incredibly quickly. The frame rate of this simulation is one million billion billion frames per second.” “This is a simulation of the vacuum on its own, what we normally think of as “empty“ space.” “Now it seems counterintuitive that the vacuum at its lowest energy state should contain all this stuff.“
In other words, while the quantum field theory would like to have an empty space with no quantum fluctuations, the reality is that nowhere in the universe does such an “empty“ space exist because quantum field fluctuations are everywhere.
So, the root cause of the Cosmological Constant Problem is that an empty space without fluctuations is nowhere to be found in the universe. However, such a space can be found in Buddha’s three-body setup of the cosmos.
As mentioned several times before, two of the three bodies in the three-body structure are realms of reality. Buddha is part of the three-body structure because he has to become part of the world of mentality through direct perception to understand the empirical facts of nature.
Of the two realms of reality, Buddha teaches that one is conditioned and the other conditioned. Furthermore, Buddha teaches that the unconditioned and the conditioned realms exist separately in their respective realms.
The unconditioned realm is defined as uncompounded and permanent. It is the realm of Citta, the quiescent mentality existing as the Ultimate Reality without conditions, permanently and uncompounded as Nothing but Mentality. Citta is the equivalent of dark energy because Buddha teaches that the expansion of the cosmos occurs in it.
The conditioned realm is defined as compounded and impermanent. It is the realm of non-luminosity, which exists impermanently and conditionally through the production of concomitance of causes and conditions. It is equivalent to the atomic universe because it is also where “empty space is not empty” in Buddha’s universe. Indeed, the mentality of non-luminosity has fluctuated incessantly since immemorial, as Buddha teaches in his “Such Is The Way of Dharma” doctrine.
Additionally, in Buddha’s cosmos, it is impossible for the expansion of the cosmos to happen in non-luminosity because it is an illusional realm, which disappears when the mind turns quiescent, as can be verified by the example of the three enlightened people discussed in Post 10 and 11 in the Verification Category.
So, separating the realm of Citta from non-luminosity is equivalent to separating dark energy from the atomic slices in the scientific universe. While it is impossible to separate the dark energy from the atomic slice in the scientific universe, it is possible to separate the realm without fluctuations from the realm with fluctuations in Buddha’s cosmos. Therefore, the Cosmological Constant Problem should naturally vanish in Buddha’s cosmos because it is not natural.
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