Heuristic Estimation of the Vacuum Energy Density of the Universe: Part II-Analysis Based on Frequency Domain Electromagnetic Radiation

In Part I of this paper, an inequality satisfied by the vacuum energy density of the universe was derived using an indirect and heuristic procedure. The derivation is based on a proposed thought experiment, according to which an electron is accelerated to a constant and relativistic speed at a distance L from a perfectly conducting plane. The charge of the electron was represented by a spherical charge distribution located within the Compton wavelength of the electron. Subsequently, the electron is incident on the perfect conductor giving rise to transition radiation. The energy associated with the transition radiation depends on the parameter L. It was shown that an inequality satisfied by the vacuum energy density will emerge when the length L is pushed to cosmological dimensions and the product of the radiated energy, and the time duration of emission is constrained by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. In this paper, a similar analysis is conducted with a chain of electrons oscillating sinusoidally and located above a conducting plane. In the thought experiment presented in this paper, the behavior of the energy radiated by the chain of oscillating electrons is studied in the frequency domain as a function of the length L of the chain. It is shown that when the length L is pushed to cosmological dimensions and the energy radiated within a single burst of duration of half a period of oscillation is constrained by the fact that electromagnetic energy consists of photons, an inequality satisfied by the vacuum energy density emerges as a result. The derived inequality is given by where is the vacuum energy density. This result is consistent with the measured value of the vacuum energy density, which is 5.38 × 10-10 J/m. The result obtained here is in better agreement with experimental data than the one obtained in Part I of this paper with time domain radiation.

Heuristic Estimation of the Vacuum Energy Density of the Universe: Part I—Analysis Based on Time Domain Electromagnetic Radiation

In this paper, an inequality satisfied by the vacuum energy density of the universe is derived using an indirect and heuristic procedure. The derivation is based on a proposed thought experiment, according to which an electron is accelerated to a constant and relativistic speed at a distance L from a perfectly conducting plane. The charge of the electron is represented by a spherical charge distribution located within the Compton wavelength of the electron. Subsequently, the electron is incident on the perfect conductor giving rise to transition radiation. The energy associated with the transition radiation depends on the parameter L. It is shown that an inequality satisfied by the vacuum energy density will emerge when the length L is pushed to cosmological dimensions and the product of the radiated energy and the time duration of emission are constrained by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. The inequality derived is given by ρΛ ≤ 9.9×10-9J/m3 where ρΛ is the vacuum energy density. This result is consistent with the measured value of the vacuum energy density, which is 0.538 × 10-9J/m. Since there is a direct relationship between the vacuum energy density and the Einstein’s cosmological constant, the inequality can be converted directly to that of the cosmological constant.

Hints of the Photonic Nature of the Electromagnetic Fields in Classical Electrodynamics

Several recent publications show that the electromagnetic radiation generated by transmitting antennas satisfy the following universal conditions: The time domain radiation fields satisfy the condition A ≥ h/4π ⇒q ≥ e where A is the action of the radiation field, which is defined as the product of the radiated energy and the duration of the radiation, h is the Planck constant, e is the electronic charge and q is the charge associated with the radiating system. The frequency domain radiation fields satisfy the condition U ≥ hv ⇒q ≥ e where U is the energy radiated in a single burst of radiation of duration T/2 and v is the frequency of oscillation. The goal of this paper is to show that these conditions, which indeed are expressions of the photonic nature of the electromagnetic fields, are satisfied not only by the radiation fields generated by physical antennas but also by the radiation fields generated by accelerating or decelerating electric charges. The results presented here together with the results obtained in previous studies show that hints of the photonic nature of the electromagnetic radiation remain hidden in the field equations of classical electrodynamics, and they become apparent when the dimension of the radiating system is pushed to the extreme limits as allowed by nature.

Classical Electromagnetic Fields of Moving Charges as a Vehicle to Probe the Connection between the Elementary Charge and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

The radiation fields generated when a charged particle is incident on or moving away from a perfectly conducting plane are obtained. These fields are known in the literature as transition radiation. The field equations derived thus are used to evaluate the energy, momentum and the action associated with the radiation. The results show that for a charged particle moving with speed ν, the longitudinal momentum associated with the transition radiation is approximately equal to ΔU/c for values of ?1- ν/c smaller than about 10-3 where ΔU is the total radiated energy dissipated during the interaction and cis the speed of light in free space. The action of the radiation, defined as the product of the total energy dissipated and the duration of the emission, increases as 1- ν/c decreases and, for an electron, it becomes equal to h/4π when ν = c - νm where νm is the speed pertinent to the lowest possible momentum associated with a particle confined inside the universe and?h is the Planck constant. Combining these results with Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, an expression that predicts the value of the elementary charge is derived.

Emergence of Friedmann Equation of Cosmology of a Flat Universe from the Time-Energy Uncertainty Principle

Friedmann equation of cosmology is based on the field equations of general relativity. Its derivation is straight-forward once the Einstein’s field equations are given and the derivation is independent of quantum mechanics. In this paper, it is shown that the Friedmann equation pertinent to a homogeneous, isotropic and flat universe can also be obtained as a consequence of the energy balance in the expanding universe between the positive energy associated with vacuum and matter, and the negative gravitational energy. The results obtained here is a clear consequence of the fact that the surface area of the Hubble sphere is proportional to the total amount of information contained within it.

Remarkable Predictions of Classical Electrodynamics on Elementary Charge and the Energy Density of Vacuum

In a recent paper, we have studied the nature of the electromagnetic energy radiated over a single period of oscillation by an antenna working in frequency domain under ideal conditions and without losses when the oscillating charge in the antenna is reduced to the elementary charge. Here we extend and expand that study. The energy radiated by an oscillating current in an antenna occurs in bursts of duration T/2, where T is the period of oscillation. The results obtained here, based purely on classical electrodynamics, can be summarized by the inequality U ≥hv→q0 ≥e where U is the energy radiated in a single burst of duration T/2, h is the Planck constant, ν is the frequency of oscillation and q0 is the magnitude of the oscillating charge associated with the current. The condition U=hv→q0=e is obtained when the length of the antenna is equal to the ultimate Hubble radius of the universe (i.e. the maximum value of the antenna length allowed by nature) and the wavelength is equal to the Bohr radius (resulting from the smallest possible radius of the conductor allowed by nature). The ultimate Hubble radius is directly related to the vacuum energy density. The inequality obtained here is in general agreement with the one obtained in the previous study. One novel feature of this extended analysis is the discovery of an expression, in terms of the elementary charge and other atomic constants, for the vacuum energy density of the universe. This expression predicts the vacuum energy density to be about 4×10-10?J/m3 which is in reasonable agreement with the measured value of 6×10-10 J/m3.

A Universal Condition Satisfied by the Action of Electromagnetic Radiation Fields

The action (the product of radiated energy and the time of emission) of the radiation fields generated by four types of radiators, namely, short electric dipole, small magnetic dipole, travelling wave antenna and bi-conical antenna is investigated with special reference to the charge associated with the current waveform which is responsible for the radiation. The results obtained can be summarized by the order of magnitude inequality where A is the action (product of the radiated energy and the time of emission), h is the Planck constant, q is the charge associated with the current that gave rise to the radiation and e is the electronic charge. The condition is obtained when the length of the antenna and its radius are pushed to its extreme natural limits. Based on the results obtained here and elsewhere, it is suggested that this inequality is valid in general for electromagnetic radiation fields as predicted by classical electrodynamics.

Novel Features of Classical Electrodynamics and Their Connection to the Elementary Charge, Energy Density of Vacuum and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle—Review and Consolidation

The paper provides a review and conciliation of the results pertinent to the energy and action associated with electromagnetic radiation obtained using classical electrodynamics and published in several journal papers. The results presented in those papers are based on three systems that generate electromagnetic radiation, namely, frequency domain antennas, time domain antennas and decelerating (or accelerating) charged elementary particles. In the case of radiation generated by a frequency domain antenna, the energy dissipated as radiation within half a period, U, satisfies the order of magnitude inequality U ≥ hv → q ≥ e where q is the magnitude of the oscillating charge in the antenna, e is the elementary charge, v is the frequency and h is the Planck constant. In the case of transient radiation fields generated by time domain antennas or the radiation emitted by decelerating (or accelerating) charged elementary particles, the energy dissipated by the system as radiation satisfies the order of magnitude inequality Uτr ≥ h/4π → q ≥ e where U is the energy dissipated as radiation by the system τr, is the duration of the energy emission and q is either the charge in the current pulse in the case of the time domain antenna or the charge of the elementary particle giving rise to the radiation. These results are derived while adhering strictly to the principles of classical electrodynamics alone. These results were interpreted in different papers in different ways using different assumptions. In this paper, we provide a unified interpretation of the results, and combining these results with two simple quantum mechanical concepts, expression for the elementary charge as a function of other natural constants and the energy density of vacuum is derived. The expressions predict the elementary charge to an accuracy higher than about 1%.