Local Gravity of Quantum Vacuum — One Action, Zero Free Parameters, 23 Derived Quantities
Modern cosmology tells us that everything we can see — every star, every galaxy, every atom — makes up only 5% of the universe. The rest is supposedly made of dark matter (27%) and dark energy (68%) — invisible substances that have never been directly detected despite decades of searching.
This theory proposes a simpler answer. Empty space itself has energy — this is experimentally confirmed (the Casimir effect, the Lamb shift). Energy has mass (Einstein's E = mc²). Mass gravitates (general relativity). So the energy of empty space must gravitate. The question is not whether it does, but how.
In 1967, a physicist named Zel'dovich assumed that vacuum energy contributes to cosmic expansion uniformly everywhere. This assumption was never proved — it was simply adopted. If you remove it, and instead allow vacuum energy to gravitate locally — accumulating inside galaxies, responding to the presence of ordinary matter — then the "missing mass" in galaxies is not missing at all. It is the weight of the vacuum itself, trapped inside gravitational wells.
The coupling between matter and vacuum is not a guess. It is measured in nuclear physics laboratories — the same experiments that tell us how protons hold together. From this single measured number, the theory derives the cosmological constant (off by a factor of 1.65, replacing the standard mismatch of 10120), the ratio of matter to light in the universe (1.2% agreement), three lepton masses, the shape of galaxy rotation curves, and 23 quantities total — all from one equation, with zero adjustable parameters.
No new particles. No new forces. No dark anything. Just established physics — quantum chromodynamics, general relativity, and E = mc² — connected in a way that was overlooked for sixty years.
Kriger, B. (2026). Volume I: The local gravitation of quantum vacuum: A unified solution to the dark sector (αLGQV Theory Monograph). IIIR Cosmology and Theoretical Physics. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19027460
Kriger, B. (2026). Volume II: The consistent universe — Singularities resolved, dark sector dissolved, parameters derived (A dark-sector-free cosmology: Local gravity of quantum vacuum; αLGQV Theory Monograph). IIIR Cosmology and Theoretical Physics. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29913.28002
In 1967, Zel'dovich assumed that the cosmological constant Λ (a geometric property of the Einstein equations) equals 8πG × the quantum vacuum energy density ρvac (a field-theoretic quantity). This identification was never derived from a fundamental principle. It was postulated.
Five independent theoretical frameworks support the separation: trace-free Einstein gravity (Ellis 2011), Kaloper–Padilla sequestering, Volovik's condensed-matter analogy, Solà Peracaula's running vacuum, and Brown's QKDE. Removing the identification dissolves the vacuum catastrophe (10120 discrepancy) and opens a chain of consequences that reproduces the effects of dark matter and dark energy without either.
R²/(6M²) — elastic stiffness of spacetime (Starobinsky inflation, M fixed by CMB amplitude As) (1 + 2α)ℒm — vacuum–matter coupling (α derived from QCD sigma terms)
The trace of the field equations, combined with the self-consistency condition of the matter–vacuum–metric cycle, yields:
Predicted: 1.8 × 10⁻⁵² m⁻²
Observed: 1.1 × 10⁻⁵² m⁻²
Ratio: 1.65
The Zel'dovich estimate (σ⁴/m²Pl) is off by 10⁴². This formula is off by 1.65 — the same factor as in α, from the same screening uncertainty.
N-body simulations show Geff = G(1 + 2α) confines itself to the shrinking overdense volume fraction as structure grows. The σ₈ enhancement is ~3× smaller than linear theory predicts.
Simultaneously resolves: JWST early galaxy problem (enhanced early growth) and S₈ tension (moderate late σ₈) — same α, same physics, different epochs.
Paper #9Inside gravitationally bound systems, vacuum energy is trapped and its gravity is uncompensated. The isothermal vacuum profile reproduces:
• Flat rotation curves
• Baryonic Tully–Fisher (Mb ∝ v⁴)
• Radial acceleration relation with a₀ ~ √(Λ₀G) ~ 10⁻¹⁰ m/s² — derived, not fitted
• Bullet Cluster morphology
• Dark-mass-free galaxies (DF2, DF4)
The R + R² Starobinsky action is derived — not postulated — as the elastic potential of the spacetime membrane. CMB compatibility is demonstrated: at recombination, vacuum perturbations are suppressed by (H₀/Hrec)² ~ 10⁻¹⁰.
The mass hierarchy (10⁵⁵ between inflationary and late-time scales) dissolves as a ratio of curvatures at two excitation branches of the same elastic medium.
Papers #5, 6, 7At 3–5× nuclear density, chiral symmetry restoration releases confined QCD vacuum energy into a state with w = −1. Vacuum pressure P ∝ ρ matches gravity at all masses — unlike degeneracy pressure (P ∝ ρ5/3), which is overcome above a critical mass.
Transition mass Mtr ≈ 4.0 M☉ separates vacuum stars (no horizon) from frozen stars (horizon + vacuum core). In both cases: no singularity.
Papers #31a, 31bThe Big Bang singularity is replaced by a topological pole — a smooth extremum of finite density (~10⁷³ kg/m³, 23 orders below Planck). The universe at the Pole is a compact S³ of radius R₀ ≈ 15 AU filled with quark–gluon–vacuum plasma (QGVP).
"Before" has no meaning — not because time was created, but because the coordinate is exhausted. Asking "what was before the Big Bang" is asking what is north of the North Pole.
Paper #31bThe de Sitter interior of the QGVP core has a reversed time dilation profile: fastest clock at the centre. The core oscillates between confinement and deconfinement states. This oscillation of gtt itself constitutes a new class of gravitational radiation — Kgr-Radiation.
Predicted for Sgr A*: f ~ 5–50 Hz, h ~ 10⁻³⁰–10⁻²⁵. Below current LIGO, within reach of the Einstein Telescope.
Papers #32, 33The universe is a 4D static manifold bounded by two topological attractors:
Attractor A (Pole) — maximal metric deformation. S³ at 15 AU, nuclear density, 155 MeV. The seed.
Attractor B (Relaxation) — fully relaxed membrane, crystallised cosmic web, structural stillness. Not heat death — the frozen lattice.
Cosmic expansion is passive geometric relaxation — the return of a deformed elastic membrane to its ground state. Not driven by a repulsive substance.
Paper #18Uniqueness of physical constants → unique Banach fixed point → compactness. Perelman's theorem → S³. CPT symmetry (10⁻¹⁸ precision) → antipodal identification S³/Z₂ = RP³.
Circumference: ~435 billion light-years (17× observable volume). Total energy: exactly zero (theorem). Curvature: ΩK = −0.044.
Paper #27From the same α and action:
• Three generations — excitation levels within QCD confinement window
• Strong CP: θ = 0 as unique functional attractor of the neutron
• Baryon-to-photon ratio: η = α⁴ = 6.20 × 10⁻¹⁰ (obs: 6.12 × 10⁻¹⁰, 1.2%)
• Baryogenesis dissolved on atemporal manifold
• Muon g−2: 1% HVP shift from (1+2α)ℒm
• Neutron fine-tuning: six functions, one fixed point
7 match to <1% · 3 match within factor 1.7 (same screening source) · 5 are testable predictions · All from one action, zero adjusted parameters.
ISO vacuum outperforms NFW for 21 of 31 galaxies at equal parameter count (2 free parameters each).
Median χ²ν: 0.22 (vacuum) vs 0.34 (NFW)
DDO 154 (benchmark cusp–core galaxy): χ²ν = 1.89 vs 8.76 for NFW.
Paper #30b MNRASVacuum profile outperforms NFW for 11 of 14 galaxies.
Median χ²ν: 0.32 (vacuum) vs 1.08 (NFW)
LSB galaxies are DM-dominated at all radii — near-ideal laboratory for testing halo models with minimal baryonic contamination.
Paper #30c A&AVflat > 150 km/s, Hubble types T = 2–5. The challenging regime where baryonic and dark components are comparable.
Full Hubble-sequence sample (5 galaxies): vacuum outperforms NFW for 4 of 5 at equal parameter count.
Papers #30, 30a, 30d RNAAS
Quantum Chromodynamics — sigma terms, chiral condensate, confinement
General Relativity — Einstein field equations, trace-free formulation
E = mc² — vacuum energy has equivalent mass
Casimir effect — vacuum energy depends on geometry
Starobinsky R² — elastic stiffness of spacetime
Dark matter particles — replaced by gravitating vacuum
Dark energy / quintessence — replaced by metric relaxation
Inflaton field — replaced by elastic recoil of spacetime
Singularities — replaced by K-Limit (finite-density cores)
Fine-tuning — replaced by fixed-point self-consistency
Free parameters — all 23 quantities derived