Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial Mechanic
I'm more likely to consider some little side-eddy of the mainstream, and that's what this hypothesis is.
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Interesting side-eddy,
CM. There's something I just don't get about the big rip scenario. It's probably just an elementary breakdown in my visualization processes, but in any case, maybe you can clarify the situation for me.
As I understand the accelerating expansion in terms of the cosmological constant, the vacuum energy of space adds more space - space expands - but the "level" or amount of such vacuum energy always stays the same per unit volume of space. It is odd that the
density of the vacuum energy does not go down or get "diluted" as space expands (as the matter density does), but I
do get that. What I don't get is, I note that my atoms are not currently getting ripped apart; if the vacuum energy always stays the same per unit volume of space, how can it be any different in the distant future?