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Some believe that vacuum energy might be the " dark energy" (also called quintessence) associated with the cosmological constant in General relativity, thought to be similar to a negative force of gravityThis article covers the physics of gravitation. See also gravity (disambiguation). Gravitation is the tendency of masses to move toward each other. The first mathematical formulation of the theory of gravitation was made by Sir Isaac Newton and proved ast. Observations that the expanding UniverseAlternate uses: See Universe (disambiguation In the first half of the 20th century, the word universe was used to mean the whole spacetime continuum in which we exist, together with all the energy and matter within it. Attempts to understand the universe appears to be acceleratingAccelerating universe is a term for the idea that our universe is undergoing diveregeant rapid expansion. In the late 1990s, observations of supernovae (type Ia) produced the unexpected result that the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating. seem to support the Cosmic inflationInflation is the idea—first proposed by Alan Guth (1981)—that the nascent universe passed through a phase of exponential expansion (the inflationary epoch) that was driven by a negative vacuum energy density (positive vacuum pressure). This expansion can theory —first proposed by Alan GuthGuth (born February 27, 1947) is a physicist and cosmologist. Guth has researched elementary particle theory (and how particle theory is applicable to the early universe). As a junior particle physicist, Guth first developed the idea of inflation in 1979 (1981) — in which the nascent Universe passed through a phase of exponential expansionIn mathematics, a quantity that grows exponentially is one that grows at a rate proportional to its size. Anything that grows by the same percentage every year (or every month, day, hour etc. is growing exponentially. For example, if the average number of driven by a negative vacuum energy density (positive vacuum pressure).
Vacuum energy has a number of consequences. Vacuum fluctuations are always created as particle/antiparticle pairs. The creation of these " virtual particles" near the event horizonFor the science fiction film, see Event Horizon (film An event horizon is a boundary in spacetime for a given observer beyond which no information, including light, can reach the observer. The most famous example is a black hole, which for a distant and s of a black holeThis article is about the astronomical body. For other uses, see Black hole (disambiguation). roche limit. Infalling matter forms an accretion disk, with some of the matter being ejected in highly energetic polar jets. A black hole is a concentration of m has been hypothesized by physicist Stephen Hawking to be a mechanism for the eventual "evaporation" of black holes. The net energy of the universe remains zero so long as the particle pairs annihilate each other within Planck time. If one of the pair is pulled into the black hole before this, then the other particle becomes "real" and energy/mass is essentially radiated into space from the black hole. This loss is cumulative and could result in the black hole's disappearance over time. The time required is dependent on the mass of the black hole, but could be on the order of 10^100 years for large solar-mass black holes.
The Grand unification theory predicts a non-zero cosmological constant from the energy of vacuum fluctuations. Examining normal physical processes with knowledge of these field phenomena can lead to an interesting insight in electrodynamics. During discussions of perpetual motion, the topic of vacuum energy usually encourages serious inquiries.