Kragh H.S., Overduin J.M. The Weight of the Vacuum: A Scientific History of Dark Energy

Springer, 2014. — 113 p.Dark energy is a catch-all term for the energy of empty space. It is ‘‘dark,’’ not just in the sense that it does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, but in the deeper sense that its nature and composition are essentially unknown. Dark energy is known to dominate the dynamics of the universe on large scales, and to oppose the natural tendency of the cosmos to collapse under the weight of its own contents. In fact, under the influence of dark energy, the universe has entered a period of ‘‘late-term inflation’’ in which the expansion of space has started to accelerate, and will never stop accelerating, world without end.
The authors have written this book with two goals in mind. The first is to look back over the theoretical precursors to modern dark energy, and attempt to put the subject in some historical perspective. Such a perspective may have its uses but cannot, of course, lead on its own to the kind of radical new thinking that will be required to solve the underlying issue. The second goal is to record some of the observational hints that preceded the celebrated discovery of dark energy by cosmologists in 1998. It was then that the theoretical crisis assumed its true proportions, for this discovery removed any hope that the standard model was merely incomplete, and that some new underlying symmetry would be found which would ensure an exact cancellation of all the zero-point contributions.Early Ideas of Space and Vacuum.
The Active Ether.
Planck’s Second Quantum Theory.
Half-Quanta and Zero-Point Energy.
Nernst’s Cosmic Quantum-Ether.
The Hamburg Connection.
The Cosmological Constant.
From Casimir to Zel’dovich.
Inflation and the False Vacuum.
Variable Cosmological Constants and Quintessence.
How Heavy Is the Vacuum?
The Accelerating Universe.