Is Zero Point Energy the Enigmatic aDark Energy?
Zero-point energy is the energy of a system at absolute zero, with all quantum systems (such as atomic nuclei and their orbiting electrons) at their lowest energy levels. It has many of the properties of dark energy, including acting as a repulsive force which would accelerate the expansion of the universe. However, depending on the frequency spectrum of zero-point energy, there may be too much of it to serve as dark energy; if zero-point energy were driving the expansion, the universe would have exploded into oblivion with the Big Bang. An alternative theory suggests a way around this problem such that zero-point energy could still be the same as dark energy; there is currently no evidence to support it, but upcoming experiments should be sensitive enough to resolve this question.
