Vacuum energy: Quantum hydrodynamics vs. quantum gravity

Abstract

We compare quantum hydrodynamics and quantum gravity. They share many common features. In particular, both have quadratic divergences, and both lead to the problem of the vacuum energy, which, in quantum gravity, transforms to the cosmological constant problem. We show that, in quantum liquids, the vacuum energy density is not determined by the quantum zero-point energy of the phonon modes. The energy density of the vacuum is much smaller and is determined by the classical macroscopic parameters of the liquid, including the radius of the liquid droplet. In the same manner, the cosmological constant is not determined by the zero-point energy of quantum fields. It is much smaller and is determined by the classical macroscopic parameters of the Universe dynamics: the Hubble radius, the Newton constant, and the energy density of matter. The same may hold for the Higgs mass problem: the quadratically divergent quantum correction to the Higgs potential mass term is also cancelled by the microscopic (trans-Planckian) degrees of freedom due to the thermodynamic stability of the whole quantum vacuum.