PHYSICAL VACUUM AS A SYSTEM MANIFESTING ITSELF ON VARIOUS SCALES –

FROM NUCLEAR PHYSICS TO COSMOLOGY

S. F. Timashev
Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia

A phenomenological model of the dynamics of the Universe is suggested as an alternative of the

standard universal dynamics model whose inadequacy is borne out by the catastrophic
difference, by more than 40 orders of magnitude, between the magnitudes of the cosmological
constant of the general relativity theory, obtained on the basis of the standard model, and those
derived from experimental data. Also resolved within the scope of the phenomenological model
suggested are the most acutely discussed mysteries of the dynamics of the Universe, namely, the
essence of the base medium of the Universe, the so-called “dark energy” that is usually being
associated with the physical vacuum, and the essence of “dark matter” that holds galaxies and
their clusters in the form of stable formations. It is demonstrated that the rejection of the notions
of the Big Bang involving the momentary generation of matter could be a key factor in the
solution of the aggregate of the above problems. It turned out that the principal dynamics
specificities of the expanding Universe could be due to the constant action of an energy-mass
source of the Planck power, developed at the instant of the Big Bang. In that case, the well-
known problems of the standard model of the dynamics of the Universe, associated with the
introduction of such hypothetical entities as dark energy and dark matter, can be solved in a non-
contradictory fashion on a phenomenological basis, and the paradox of the “discrepancy of many
orders of magnitude” between cosmological constant values can be resolved. To this end,
however, it is necessary to introduce a physically isolated “physical” frame of reference – the
space of the Universe, expanding in accordance with the Hubble law, provided that a
phenomenological relation the type of the Friedmann equation, which plays the role of energy
conservation law, is satisfied at global time common to all the points of space and reckoned from
the Big Bang. The role of “dark energy”, the most energetic substance in the standard model of
the dynamics of the Universe, is assigned here to the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum, the vacuum of quantum electrodynamics (QED vacuum). It is exactly the generation of
this component of the physical vacuum in every element of the developing space that gives rise
to the pressure that causes the Universe to expand; and the ponderomotive action of this pressure
on material objects is brought into effect through the introduction into consideration of the
polarization of this component in the vicinity of material bodies. The “dark mater” phenomenon
introduced into the standard model is associated in the phenomenological model under
consideration with the growth of the inertial mass of relativistic objects as a result of distortions
in the polarization regions of the QED vacuum in the neighborhood of these objects. The QED
vacuum here acts as a substance that unites and forms all the known types of interaction – strong,
electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational. Specifically, the genesis of nuclear forces is linked to
the manifestation of the Casimir effect governed by the QED vacuum. The gravitational
interactions are associated with the polarization of the electromagnetic component of the
physical vacuum over all ranges of possible spatial scales. Considered are some corollaries of the
suggested phenomenological model that relate to the singularities of the dynamics of the
Universe at the early stages of its evolution, as well as to the interpretation of the apparent
anomalies in the energy releases occurring in the course of explosions of Type Ia supernovae in
faraway galaxies, from whose analysis the conclusion is usually drawn in the standard theory of
the dynamics of the Universe that the universal expansion is accelerating in the present epoch
(which is inadequate from the standpoint of the phenomenological model under consideration).
The possible relation is discussed between the introduction of the Planckian sources providing
for the constant inflow of energy-mass into the Universe and the dynamics of the fluctuation
phenomena occurring at the external boundary between the Universe and the primordial inflation
vacuum whose space had started being absorbed, following the Big Bang, by the expanding

1
Universe. And in contrast to the existing models of the dynamics of the Universe, it is assumed
that the energy of the inflation vacuum, defined as a “false”, metastable vacuum with an energy
density exceeding that of the vacuum of the Universe, had been and is being released and
transformed into the observable energy of the Universe throughout the time elapsed since the Big
Bang. It is quite possible that the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful and relatively
short-lived gamma radiation sources in cosmologically distant regions of the observable
Universe, which are being distributed in an isotropic manner all over the celestial sphere and
fixed once daily on the average, are associated with the manifestations of such a fluctuation
dynamics. As a consequence of the introduced hypothesis about the genetic unity of the
electromagnetic and strong interactions, the manifestations of the QED vacuum in nuclear
transformations initiated by electrons in low-temperature plasma are discussed. In particular, the
radioactive decay is considered as a consequence of the disturbance of stability of the nucleus–
QED vacuum system upon alteration of the state of nuclear matter due to the interaction of the
nuclei with electrons in low-temperature plasma. The possible experimental investigations aimed
at gaining an insight into the principal enigma of the Universe, namely, the essence of its base
substance, the physical vacuum.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction. Physical Vacuum in the Microworld and in Cosmology.

2. QED Vacuum as the Base Medium for the Special Theory of Relativity.
3. Physical Essence of the Particle Mass-Energy relation. Genesis of Nuclear Forces.
4. Phenomenological Relations for the Fundamental and Interaction Constants.
5. Planckian Energy-Mass Source. Basic Relations of the Phenomenological Model
of the Universe Dynamics.
6. Manifestations of the Physical Vacuum in Various Periods of Evolution of the Universe.
7. The Physical Vacuum of the Universe and the Inflation Vacuum.
8. The Manifestations of the QED Vacuum in Nuclear Transformations Initiated by Electrons
in Low-Temperature Plasma and in Radioactive Decay Processes.
9. Concluding Remarks.

1. INTRODUCTION. PHYSICAL VACUUM IN THE MICROWORLD AND IN

COSMOLOGY

The notions of physical vacuum originated in the course of creation of quantum

mechanics, in connection with the development of the idea of spontaneous emission of an
isolated excited atom [1]. It was later found that the polarization of the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum, the quantum electrodynamics vacuum (QED-vacuum), could
manifest itself in the spatial “smearing” of the electron and a change, as a result, of the potential
energy of its interaction with the nucleus, thus providing conditions for the removal of the
degeneracy of the energies of the 2S ½ and 2P ½ states in the hydrogen atom – the Lamb shift [2].
It was also demonstrated that the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic component of the
physical vacuum in regions contiguous with material objects could alter the relativistic quantum
relationships in the near-surface regions of the objects and thus give rise to its macroscopic
manifestations – the Casimir ponderomotive effect [3, 4], Josephson contact noise [5]. It is
important to emphasize that all the above effects are of electromagnetic nature: they vanish if the
fine structure constant α e = e 2 / =c (where e is the electron charge, c is the speed of light in a
vacuum, and = is the Planck constant) tends to zero [3, 4].
The development of quantum chromodynamics [6] brought in a fresh knowledge of the
nature of the physical vacuum on high-energy scales. It turned out in particular that at a
characteristic energy (“effective temperature”) of EQCD ~ 200 MeV a confinement-
2
deconfinement transition was realized inside the nucleus (quarks were no longer bound in
nucleons) to form a quark-gluon plasma or quark soup. The strong interaction constant αs in that
case proved dependent on the excitation energy: its magnitude changed from αs ~ 1 at low
energies to αs ≈ 0.3 at energies of a few gigaelectron-volts, depending but weakly on energy
thereafter [6].
In the last decade, the notions of physical vacuum have come into wide use in cosmology
[7-11]. It is precisely the physical vacuum that is associated, in the standard model of the
dynamics of the Universe, at whose root lie the Friedmann equations of the general theory of
relativity (GTR), with “dark energy” that accounts for 73% of the entire energy of the Universe.
It is believed that “dark energy” is uniformly “spilled” in the Universe, its unalterable density
being ε V = Λc 4 / 8π G , where Λ and G are the cosmological and the gravitational constant,
respectively. And attributed to the vacuum of the standard model, in contrast to the QED-
vacuum, is the physically hard-to-perceive equation of state pV ε V = −1 with the negative
pressure pV. It is exactly this relationship, suggesting a kind of “antigravity” due to dark energy,
that is postulated as the factor governing the expansion of the Universe. The standard model also
considers another physically hard-to-imagine substance – dark matter – whose energy content
amounts to 23%, which is introduced into the Friedmann equations in order to remove
contradictions between the magnitudes of the apparent masses of gravitationally bound objects,
as well as systems of such objects, and their apparent parameters, including the structural
stability of galaxies and galactic clusters in the expanding Universe. Apart from the introduction
of the physically obscure entities – dark energy and dark matter, the problems involved in the
construction of the standard model are accentuated by the unsuccessful attempts to tie in the
3
apparent value εV ≈ 0.66×10 –8 erg/cm [12] with the parameters of the physical vacuum
introduced in elementary particle physics, the quantum chromodynamics vacuum (QCD-
vacuum). The above discrepancies come to more than 40 orders of magnitude if the
characteristic energy scale of the quantum chromodynamics vacuum is taken to be EQCD ~ 200
MeV [7-9], with its energy density being ε QCD = EQCD 4
/(2π =c)3 , and over 120 orders of
magnitude if one is orientated towards the vacuum of physical fields, wherein quantum effects
and gravitational effects would manifest themselves simultaneously, with the Planck energy
density ε Pl = c 7 / 8=G 2 [10] playing the part of the characteristic energy scale. Such catastrophic
differences, such an “order-of-magnitude discrepancy” is considered a “severe trial for the entire
fundamental theory” [10]. The “wanted” relations discussed in a number of works [10, 13],
which are being suggested purely formally, without resort to comprehensible physical models
linking up the energy density εV with the fundamental physical constants, surely cannot help
solve the problem.
The natural question now arises as to how much the vacuum of the standard model of the
Universe dynamics and the vacuum introduced to describe microworld phenomena, namely, the
QCD- and the QED-vacuum, are one and the same vacuum. In this paper, an attempt is made not
only to resolve the aggregate of the above problems, but also to develop on a phenomenological
basis the conception of the unified physical vacuum for the microworld and the Universe. First,
we will introduce the concept of polarization of the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum in the vicinity of material objects, which actually implies examination of the QED-
vacuum as a kind of “ether”, the base medium surrounding any object in our World (Sect. 2).
Inasmuch as polarization effects must depend on the traverse speed of material objects relative to
the base medium introduced, it is precisely the effects of polarization of the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum that will be associated with the increase of the inertial mass
of the system that a particle forms with the polarization region at relativistic velocities. The
pertinent relationships between the mass and the relativistic energy of particles, whose physical
essence still remains a subject of discussion (see Ref. Nos. [14, 15]), will be considered in Sect.
3 of this paper.

3
 As a medium polarizing on various spatial scales, the physical vacuum introduced
appears as a substance that unites and forms all the known types of interaction – strong,
electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational (Sect. 4). To include gravitation in this union, use is
made of an analog of the numerological relation introduced into cosmology by Weinberg [16],
which links up the Planck constant with the gravitational constant G and the Hubble radius RH of
the Universe (see below). Based on this, we managed to introduce in a uniform fashion a set of
phenomenological relations for the interaction constants and also to represent the law of
universal gravitation in a form revealing their cosmological essence.
It should be noted that the active role of the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum is not limited to the possibility of polarization alterations in the course of relativistic
motion of masses. Among other things, a problem of the genetic unity of electromagnetic and
nuclear forces is discussed. It is being revealed that to this component of the physical vacuum
might be tied “dark energy”, the energy-saturated substance of the standard model of the
dynamics of the Universe. The last conclusion follows from the analysis of the well-known set of
Planck numbers (Sect. 5) initially introduced as purely numerological relations. However, the
establishment [17] of the physical meaning of one of the Planck parameters – the Planck power –
from the analysis of Schwartzshild’s solution of the general theory of relativity for metric in the
neighborhood of a unit mass made it possible to alter the status of the Planck numbers and
consider them as phenomenological parameters of the dynamics of the Universe. It turned out
that the energy-mass source of Planck power that originated at the instant of the Big Bang and is
acting constantly could produce the entire energy of the Universe during the course of its
evolutional dynamics. In that case, the well-known problems of the standard model of the
Universe dynamics, associated with the introduction of the hypothetical entities – dark matter
and dark energy governing the expansion dynamics of the Universe, can be resolved in a
consistent manner on a phenomenological basis. To this end, however, it is necessary to
introduce, in accordance with [18], a physically isolated frame of reference – the space of the
Universe – expanding in compliance with the Hubble law, provided that a phenomenological
relation the type of the Friedmann equation, which plays the part of the law of conservation of
energy, is satisfied at global time common to all the points of the space and reckoned from the
Big Bang.
Also considered (Sect. 6) are some corollaries of the suggested phenomenological model,
which are related to the specificities of the dynamics of the Universe at the early stages of its
evolution, as well as to the interpretation of the apparent anomalies in the energy releases
occurring in the course of explosions of Type Ia supernovae in faraway galaxies, from whose
analysis the conclusion is usually drawn in the standard theory of the dynamics of the Universe
that the universal expansion is accelerating in the present epoch (which is inadequate from the
standpoint of the phenomenological model under consideration). The two examples considered
illustrate violation of the Lorentz invariance on cosmological scales. The origin of the Planckian
energy-mass source which is acting constantly and produce the entire energy of the Universe
during the course of its evolutional dynamics is considered in Sec. 7.
As a consequence of the introduced hypothesis about the genetic unity of the
electromagnetic and strong interactions, the manifestations of the QED vacuum in nuclear
transformations initiated by electrons in low-temperature plasma are discussed. In particular, the
radioactive decay is considered as a consequence of the disturbance of stability of the nucleus–
QED vacuum system upon alteration of the state of nuclear matter due to the interaction of the
nuclei with electrons in low-temperature plasma (Sec. 8). Discussed in the concluding Sect. 9 are
possible experimental investigations aimed at gaining an insight into the principal enigma of the
Universe, namely, the essence of its base substance, the physical vacuum.

2. QED VACUUM AS THE BASE MEDIUM FOR THE SPECIAL THEORY OF

RELATIVITY

4
The special theory of relativity (STR), like any other physical theory, is formulated didactically,
i.e., on the basis of postulates. The postulates behind this theory were formulated by Albert
Einstein in 1905. The first of them is the principle of relativity according to which all the laws of
nature are Lorentz-invariant under transition from one inertial frame of reference to another. The
second of the basic postulates is the principle of the constancy of the velocity of light in vacuum,
c, in all inertial frames of reference, no matter what the velocity of the light source or the
observer [19]. An important circumstance here is the indication that vacuum is a physically
select base medium in the transmission of electromagnetic signals and translation of material
objects from one point in space to another, as well as that the maximum data transfer rate is
limited. Naturally what we have in mind here is the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum – the vacuum of quantum electrodynamics or QED vacuum. Of course, the natural
processes of cognition of the Universe can and do apply some corrections and clarifications to
the basic postulates of any physical science, specifically the STR. And indeed, the original
formulations of the second of the above-mentioned postulates implied that the velocity of light in
vacuum was also the ultimate velocity of “propagation of interactions” [19]. However, the
recognition of the results of experiments dating from the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought
experiment and the analysis of the Bell-Léger inequalities [20-24], which concerned the
verification of the basic principles of quantum mechanics, showed that the latter statement
required correcting and that the velocity of propagation of interactions could substantially exceed
the velocity of light in vacuum. The fixing (measuring with an instrument) the state of one of the
two “free” particles being formed that formerly constituted a unified system wherein they existed
in an “entangled” or “bound” (as to polarization or spin projection) state [22] unambiguously
leads, when measuring the state of the other particle, to the fixing of the alternative state that this
particle is required to have according to quantum mechanics, the velocity of such a “remote
influence” of the measurement of the state of the former particle on the fixing of the state of the
latter one being at least four orders of magnitude in excess of the velocity of light in vacuum
[25]. It seems that such an “instant effect” of the first measurement on the result of the second
one implies an irreversible, after Weizsäcker [26], alteration, in accordance with the principle of
least action, of the entire system, including, apart from the two particles and the instrument used
to fix the state of the former particle, also the “whole” of vacuum, with its boundary conditions
altering during the course of measurement, the neighborhood of the latter, as yet “free”, particle
being included. And so, one does not have to associate the velocity of light, c, with the ultimate
velocity of propagation of interactions.
What is more, astronomical objects in faraway regions of the Universe can move relative
to the Earth with velocities exceeding the velocity of light in vacuum [27, 28]. The velocity of an
object being observed from the Earth is defined by two components, namely, the velocity of
recession resulting from the expansion of the entire space of the Universe and that due to the
own peculiar velocity of the object in this expanding space. The dynamics of the general
expansion of the Universe is described by the Friedmann equations [7-11], and it is precisely the
velocity of this expansion that appears in Hubble’s law. The own velocity of an object is its
velocity relative to some nearby point at rest in Friedmann’s expanding universe. And as stressed
by Silverman [27], it is exactly the value of the sum of the above two recessional velocities that
can exceed that of the velocity of light in vacuum, c.
It will be demonstrated later in the text that the progress made in astrophysics in the last
decade, the ascertainment of the decisive role of the physical vacuum [7-11] in the dynamics of
the observable Universe in the first place, gives fresh grounds (Sec. 4, 5) for the physical
comprehension of both the postulates of the STR and the Lorentz transformation based on them
[19] and for the establishment of the common essence (genesis) of the fundamental
electromagnetic, strong, and gravitational interactions.
In the last decade, the notions of physical vacuum have come to be widely used in cosmology. It
is exactly the physical vacuum that is associated with “dark energy” in the standard model of the
dynamics of the Universe [7-11], based on the Friedmann equations of the general theory of

5
relativity (GTR) that characterize the dynamics of the expanding Universe, global antigravity
being inherent in this dark energy which accounts for 73% of the entire energy of the Universe.
Since dark energy is, according to the standard model, evenly “spilled” all over the Universe [7];
i.e., distributed uniformly and isotropically on spatial scales from subnuclear to cosmological
ones, we will consider the electromagnetic component of this material substance, namely, the
QED vacuum, which manifests itself in various physical phenomena [2-5], as the base medium
to which our frame of reference will be fixed. This frame of reference is physically select, for it
is “related” to Friedmann’s space expanding in accordance with the Friedmann equations and is
characterized by global time common to all points of space and reckoned from the Big Bang
[18].
We intend to demonstrate that the introduction of the QED vacuum as such a base
medium allows one primarily to discuss issues that relate to the postulates of the STR and are
usually aimed at revealing the physical reasons for the limitation of the velocity of material
bodies with a rest mass of m0 to the value of c. Also questioned is the basic Einstein relation for
the rest energy E0 of such a body: E0 = m0c2. Indeed, what is the physical reason for the
appearance of the velocity of light in vacuum in this relation for a body at rest? The usual answer
is that these postulates manifest their adequacy in the agreement between the STR and
experimental observations. All the same one usually wants to understand why this is so.
However, there are more “inconvenient” questions.
Imagine a thought experiment. Let two identical relativistic particles with a rest mass of
m0, which are about to collide “head-on”, fly to meet each other with the same relativistic
velocities of u, but do not collide, and encounter instead a 1-cm-thick metal barrier placed in
their way between them. The question then arises: What is the relative velocity of these particles
prior to their encounter with the barrier; i.e., the velocity at their “approach” to a distance of 1
cm from each other? And one more question: what is the relative velocity of these particles when
there is no barrier between them, so that they collide; i.e., what is their “relative velocity at
collision”? The answer to the latter question is well known: the relative velocity of the particles
is equal to c, which is in complete compliance with the relativistic velocity addition law [19]. It
is precisely this result that is demonstrated by numerous accelerator experiments. As for the
former question, elementary logic provides the answer: The approach velocity, governed by two
independent processes – the approach of the two particles to the metal barrier – is around 2c
(naturally the velocity of each particle is somewhat lower than c).
According to [29], the seeming contradiction can be understood as follows. Suppose that
each particle, while moving in the physically select base medium – the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum, polarizes this medium around itself and thus forms a
“vacuum polaron”. Obviously the polarization of the medium can affect the dynamics of a
particle with a mass of m0 moving freely in it at a velocity of u. It is precisely because the rate of
alteration of the physical vacuum surrounding a moving object is limited to the value of c that
the movement of material bodies with velocities approaching c in this vacuum proves
impossible. Formally this should correspond to an unlimited growth of the “dynamic” mass Eu/c2
in the Einstein relation
−1 2
⎛ u2 ⎞
E u = η u m0 c , ηu = ⎜⎜1 − 2 ⎟⎟ ,
2
(1)
⎝ c ⎠
where Eu is the total energy of a particle having a Lorentz-invariant mass of m0 and moving
freely with a velocity of u. Note that expression (1) can be considered [14] as a corollary to the
postulated Einstein expression for the rest energy of the particle, E0 = m0c2, and the relativistic
relation for the square of its momentum
G
(
1
)
p 2 = 2 Eu2 − m02 c 4 . (2)
c
True enough, with such a formalized definition, there remain questions as to the physical reasons
for the growth of the kinetic component Ek = (ηu – 1)m0c2 of the particle’s energy in the

6
relativistic limit as u → c. It is exactly for these reasons that an alternative opinion exists about
the velocity dependence of the mass of relativistic particles [15].
Note also that the concept of “vacuum polaron” introduced above allows one to
comprehend the dynamical meaning of the limitation to c of the relative velocity of colliding
relativistic particles and thereby answer one of the questions raised above. Indeed, a collision of
two “vacuum polarons” implies the formation, at the stage of their interaction, of a unified
polarization region common to both particles, the rate of the attendant alteration of the vacuum
polarization regions in the vicinity of the colliding particles being limited to the value of c. The
hypotheses at the root of the special theory of relativity, based on a series of fundamental
experiments, thereby become physically meaningful. All what has been said above means a
certain “materialization” of the Lorentz transformations, when referring them to the systems
manifest in experiments.
The question now arises: What changes occurring in the region of polarization of the
QED vacuum in the neighborhood of a material particle moving with a relativistic velocity can
be responsible for the appearance of the factor ηu in expression (1)? It should be noted that this
factor was introduced for the first time by Oliver Heaviside in 1889 ([30], p. 35) when making
model calculations of the entrainment of the aether, the base medium of the 19th century’s
science, by a moving charged spherical particle of radius a and mass m0. The aether entrainment
effect grew stronger in proportion to ηu as the velocity of the particle increased because of the
geometrical displacement of the “Faraday tubes of force” associated with the sphere towards the
equatorial plane passing through its center normal to the direction of its motion. In that case, the
original spherical geometry of the system – the spherical particle with the Faraday tubes of force
issuing normally to its surface, existing at low velocities of the particle, is transformed, if its
volume is arbitrarily limited to the radius R equal to a few radii a, into an oblate ellipsoid of
revolution about the minor axis of an ellipse oriented along the trajectory of the particle, so that

Rmin = R ⋅ ηu−1 < Rmaj = R , (3)

where Rmin and Rmaj stand for the minor and major half-axes of the oblate ellipsoid of revolution,
respectively. Based on this result, J. J. Thomson calculated [30] the momentum of the particle in
its surrounding medium and demonstrated that the mass of the particle increased with its
velocity in proportion to Heaviside’s factor ηu because of the increase in the total amount of
aether entrained by the Faraday tubes of force associated with the moving particle. The
subsequent conceptualization of the STR and experimental investigations wholly confirmed the
universal role of the factor ηu in the gamut of relativistic phenomena.
According to the notions being expounded, the QED vacuum – the base medium and
physically select frame of reference for all objects of our Universe – is a present-day analog of
the aether of the 19th century’s science. And therefore, following the general ideas put forward
by O. Heaviside and J. J. Thomson, it is but natural to associate the effect of enhancement of the
energy of a relativistic particle in the STR with the changes the vacuum polarization region
undergoes in the vicinity of this particle in the direction of its motion. One should bear in mind
here that the postulated association of the polarization of vacuum in the neighborhood of any
material object with the QED vacuum actually implies the openness, in the sense of dynamics, of
this object to vacuum. In other words, the properties of any elementary particle are formed upon
interaction between its intrinsic essence and the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum.
Naturally such association should be reflected in the conditions at the boundary between
the QED vacuum and any material object, including the system “an elementary particle – QED
polarization region in its vicinity”. When writing down the pertinent boundary conditions –
boundary conditions of the 3rd kind [31, 32], one should introduce a type I state of the particle
boundary proper (an “adsorption” state or “adstate”), whose dynamic variable ξ(u) characterizes
the effective relation between the particle and the QED vacuum, and a type II state of the

7
interface characterizing the “activity” of the near-boundary region of the QED vacuum in its
interaction with the type I state. Let the dynamic variable ξ(u) characterize the measure (level)
of the conditional “lubrication” of the type I state that is necessary for the particle to move in the
vacuum medium, whose magnitude decreases (the particle gets partially “stripped”) as the
velocity u grows higher. According to Weizsäcker’s logic [26], the very fact of the transition of
the system into a new state is inevitably associated with the dissipativity and irreversibility of
this process. But to what extent can actual energy manifest itself in the effects of the QED
vacuum for such dissipative and irreversible processes to be initiated? It is well known that
effects of this type can be due to a perceptible contribution from the quantum fluctuations of the
QED vacuum to the radiation pressure (macroscopic manifestations of such effects were
observed by Brooks and co-workers [33]), the static Casimir effect [3, 4], as well as the
dynamical Casimir effect [34, 35] involving direct transformation of the fluctuations of virtual
photons into real photons at the boundaries of objects moving with relativistic velocities. This
can offer grounds for the following consideration.
Let us introduce the quantity k1(u) – a rate constant, conditioned by the intrinsic state of
the system, for the rate of alteration of the polarization region of the QED vacuum in the vicinity
of the particle, consequent upon the reduction of the level of “lubrication” (its being “blown-
off) as a result of interaction between the particle moving with a velocity of u and the QED
vacuum. The alteration of the polarization region of the QED vacuum is also affected by another
process characterized by the rate constant k2, which consists in the transfer of energy from state
II to state I of the particle, the total energy transfer rate increasing with decreasing relative level
of “lubrication”, ξ(u); i.e., with increasing relative proportion of the “bareness” of the particle, (1
– ξ). Each time the polarization region alters with increasing velocity u of the particle, the
“resistance” to the motion of the latter grows higher because of the enhancement of its “friction”
on virtual photons due to the reduction of the level ξ(u). The QED vacuum acts in point of fact
as “reins” on the particle that strives for escape from its polarizing shell, and so as the velocity u
of the particle grows higher, so does the potential energy of the system.
Considering what has been said above, the appropriate balance equation for the variable
ξ(u) in the stationary case of particle moving in the QED vacuum with a velocity of u may be
represented as follows:
dξ (u )
= − k1ξ (u ) + k2 (1 − ξ ) = 0 , (4)
dt
so that
k2
ξ (u ) = . (5)
k1 + k2
It is but natural to suppose that the rate constant k1 characterizing the loss of energy by “friction”
upon interaction with virtual photons must increase with rising velocity u. Based on the relations
of the STR and the results of pertinent experimental investigations, we assume that k1 = k10ηu ,
where k10 ≡ k1(0) and ηu is Heaviside factor (1). At the same time, the rate constant k2 must be
independent of u. In that case, expression (5) may be written down in the form
k2ηu−1 k2 1 − u 2 c 2
ξ (u ) = = , (5а)
k10 + k2ηu−1 k10 + k2 1 − u 2 c 2
so that
k2 k
ξ (0) = , ξ (u ) ⎯u⎯
⎯→ 20 1 − u 2 c 2 .
→c
k10 + k2 k1
–1
It is with the reduction of the quantity ηu with increasing velocity of the particle and growing
potential energy of the system, consequent upon the disappearance of the “lubrication” needed
for the particle to move in the base medium, that is natural to associate the nature of the
relativistic growth of the inertial mass and impossibility for an object to move in the medium

8
with the velocity of light, in accordance with Feynman’s understanding of relation (1) [15]. This
conclusion completely complies with J. J. Thomson’s idea that the kinetic perturbations
developing in the medium surrounding a moving charged particle are equivalent to the potential
(and not kinetic!) energy of the particle and contribute to the growth of precisely this component
of the total energy of the system [30].
Within the scope of the ideas being expounded, the motion of a particle with a constant
velocity u relative to the base frame of reference fixed to the QED vacuum should naturally be
considered not free, but stationary. However, according to the existing tradition going back to E.
Mach [36], we will consider natural the above-indicated “assistance” rendered by the QED
vacuum to the particle of mass m in maintaining its uniform and rectilinear motion in relation to
the base system of reference, without any effect being exerted on it by other bodies or fields, and
define motion of this type as inertial. Here we postulate in fact Mach’s principle, but in some
generalized sense. In the given case, the particle’s “inertia” being introduced owes not to all the
masses in the Universe [36], but to the action of the electromagnetic component of the physical
vacuum on every particle, which conditions the stationary (not “free”, irreversible upon time
inversion) inertial motion of the particle relative to the base medium – the QED vacuum
“related” to Friedmann’s space. Such introduction of inertia corresponds to a greater extent with
the present-day concepts of the dynamics of the Universe, according to which no more than 4 %
of the total energy of the Universe is associated with all the masses existent therein. At that, of
course, there remain open questions as to the amount of energy contributed by the QED vacuum
to such inertial motion of the particle and the possible dependence of this contribution on the
particle’s mass and velocity. In connection with the recent discovery of the Higgs boson [37-39],
questions can arise about the role the Higgs field plays in the development of inertia in particles.
In accordance with the above-said, it can be supposed that the Higgs field imparts to a particle
only its mass, while its connection with the QED vacuum, which is responsible for the
development of inertia in material objects, is implemented through its interactions that are
phenomenologically characterized by the rate constants k1 and k2.

It is of interest to show how far will remain the notions evolved on the genesis of inertia
when considering the motion of a charged particle (for the sake of definiteness, an electron) in a
condensed medium at a velocity of u exceeding that of light in this medium; i.e., subject to the
condition u > c/n(ω), where n(ω) is the refractive index of the medium that depends on the
frequency ω of light. It is well-known that in this case there originates the Vavilov-Cherenkov
radiation [40, 41] characterized by a pronounced directivity – the waves of the given frequency
ω are only emitted at a certain angle, θ, to the direction of motion of the system. This angle is
defined by the relation cosθ = c/n(ω)u. Radiation here is generated by the medium outside of an
arbitrary channel of radius ru =ληu [41], where λ = 2πc/ω is the wavelength of light in vacuum,
along whose axis moves the particle. It should be noted that the refractive index, as a
macroscopic quantity, manifests itself only at distances of l > λ from the axis of the channel,
which exceeds by several orders of magnitude the characteristic size of the polarization region of
the QED vacuum, aB = 2= m0c (see elsewhere in the text), in the vicinity of the electron
causing the generation of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation while moving in the medium at a
velocity of u. This means that the medium exerts no direct effect on the motion of the electron at
a superluminal velocity. Two questions arise in this connection. First, can the Vavilov-
Cherenkov radiation be associated with the generation of photons as a result of the dynamical
Casimir effect [34, 35]. And secondly, whether or not the energy loss suffered by the QED
vacuum in superluminal motion is totally compensated for, and the radiation loss should be
attributed to the total dissipative loss by “friction” on the QED vacuum; or the kinetic energy of
the particle decreases somewhat when the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation is generated, as in the
case of motion in vacuum [40]. These problems could apparently be resolved in subsequent
experiments.

9
 To conclude this section, let us dwell upon one more relativistic effect, namely the
increase of the lifetime of decaying relativistic particles. We will cite as an example the well-
studied decay process µ − → e − + ν~e + ν µ in a ring accelerator [42]. The probability of this
process is described with a high degree of accuracy by the following relation of the STR:
u2
w = w0ηu−1 = w0 ⋅ 1 − , (6)
c2
where w0 is the decay probability of the particle at rest. It is natural for one to attribute the
lowering of the decay probability, because of the parameter ηu decreasing with increasing
velocity u of the particle, to the kinetic difficulties involved in the cardinal alteration of the
polarization region of the QED vacuum surrounding the particle prior to its decay. Indeed, such
decay becomes possible, provided that quite definite QED vacuum polarization zones are
produced in the neighborhood of the electron and electron antineutrino, as well as the muon
neutrino, being formed, the particle scattering directions being governed by the laws of
conservation of energy and momentum.
While the relativistic mass and lifetime increase effects are real phenomena associated
with the polarization dynamics of vacuum in the vicinity of relativistic particles, the Lorentz
length contraction effect [19] seems to be purely apparent, associated not with the alterations
occurring in the vacuum polarization region in the vicinity of relativistic particles, but with the
finiteness of the rate of acquisition of data on successive measurements of the position of an
object moving with a relativistic velocity. It is unlikely that the crystal lattice parameters of the
solid-phase systems of material objects will alter even in the case of their relativistic motion with
respect to the QED vacuum of the Universe.

3. PHYSICAL ESSENCE OF THE PARTICLE MASS-ENERGY RELATION. GENESIS OF

NUCLEAR FORCES

Let us impart to our qualitative considerations a model character by associating the polarization
of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum with the Casimir forces developing in
the neighborhood of material objects. A characteristic example of such an association involves
the consideration of the Casimir forces in a vacuum gap with a width of d between two ideally
smooth metal plates of high electric conductivity [3, 4]. The Casimir attractive force between
such plates, per unit of their surface area, which is due to the amplification of one, the
“resonant”, frequency of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum, given by c/d,
and suppression of the gamut of the rest of the frequencies of virtual photons, is expressed as [3,
4]
π 2 =c
FC (d ) = − ⋅ . (7)
240 d 4
The validity of expression (7) was experimentally verified while varying the width d of the gap
from 50 to 500 nm [3]. At higher d values the force was difficult to measure with adequate
precision.
Let us formally interpolate expression (7) for the Casimir attractive potential from the
above-indicated macroscopic gap widths to the sizes of atomic nuclei and elementary particles
and consider the Casimir force-associated polarization of the electromagnetic component of the
physical vacuum in the neighborhood of a spherical particle of mass m0 and radius a. The idea of
such an interpolation goes back to Casimir (see [43]) who believed that the pertinent forces
should stabilize elementary particles, the electron in particular, by retaining its negative charge,
thus actually playing the part of the “Poincaré rubber bands” [44]. However, calculations of the
Casimir forces for a metal sphere showed [45, 46] that the vacuum energy of such a sphere is
positive, Ua = 0.04618 =c /a, which means a tendency to expand (repulsive forces are active
here). Casimir’s idea was therefore abandoned. But one should bear in mind here that in the
original Casimir’s formulation the polarization of vacuum near a metal surface was only

10
associated with the change in the spectrum of zero-point oscillations due to the tangential
component of the electric field vector going to zero on the metal surface. But according to the
phenomenological notions being evolved in this work, when a material particle interacts with the
electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum, there originates, as stressed above, a
“vacuum polaron” as a unified “material object–vacuum” system whose boundary is permeable,
open to vacuum. The representation of an elementary particle or atomic nucleus in the form of a
hollow conductive sphere in vacuum cannot be considered an adequate model of such a polaron.
The Casimir potential of interaction between an elementary particle or atomic nucleus and the
electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum, which governs the formation of a “vacuum
polaron”, must a priori be attractive. Such a result can formally be obtained by solving the
Laplace equation for the sphere by the generally accepted method [45], provided that the above-
discussed boundary conditions of the 3rd kind [31, 32] are introduced, which in the given case
provide for the interrelation between the normal component of the electric field vector at the
interface and the corresponding derivative of this component with respect to the normal to the
surface.
Certain grounds for the hypothesis put forward above can also be seen in the very fact of
existence of spin in various nuclei and elementary particles. According to Ohanian [47], the spin
of a particle can be treated as a moment developing as a result of circulation of an energy or
momentum flux in the field associated with the particle itself. In the case under consideration,
this field forms as a self-consistent field upon polarization of the electromagnetic component of
the physical vacuum in the region adjoining the particle. It is important to bear in mind [47] that
spin here is independent of the internal structure of the particle. In a sense, it is exactly the
conditions at the boundary between the physical vacuum and the particle that can be responsible
for the particle’s spin being a multiple of =/2 or zero in each particular case.
Within the scope of the phenomenological approach being considered, let us select one of
the inertial frames associated with the QED vacuum, whose origin coincides with the position of
some particle. The expression for the potential energy the particle acquires as a result of
amplification within its volume of the QED vacuum frequency equal to c/a and suppression of
the gamut of the rest of the frequencies of virtual photons has the form of the “Casimir”
attractive potential
G =c =2
U (r ) = −γ 0 + l (l + 1) . (8)
r 2m0 r 2
G
Here r denotes the radius-vector (the origin of coordinates coincides with the particle’s
position), l is the azimuthal quantum number, and γ0 is a dimensionless parameter characterizing
the intensity of the interaction under consideration (the magnitude of this parameter will be
determined elsewhere in the text).
Now there arise the natural questions: To what extent is expression (8) justified? How
much is the introduction of the idea of a vacuum polarizable on nuclear scales adequate to the
hypothesis for the amplification of the select, “resonance”, modes and suppression of all the
other modes? Can expression (8) be considered a phenomenological interpolation, bearing in
mind that corollaries to it can have a definite physical meaning? A basis for getting the
electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum and Casimir forces involved in the analysis
of phenomena occurring on a nuclear level is offered by the giant dipole resonance phenomenon
well known in nuclear physics [48-50]. This phenomenon consists in the excitation of collective
electric dipole and more complex modes in nuclei having sufficiently large (~50 mb) gamma
absorption cross-sections (experimental data are available for practically all stable isotopes). The
very fact of the principal possibility of amplification of some resonance modes of nuclear matter
in interaction with electromagnetic field and suppression of a spectrum of “nonresonance”
modes points to the possibility of manifestation of the Casimir effect in the atomic nucleus. It is
obvious that the effective gamma absorption coefficient in the case of excitation of the p-mode
of giant dipole resonance, αp-GDR, must depend on both the fine structure constant of the nucleus,

11
αe = qe2/=c ≈1/137 (qe is the electron charge), and the strong interaction coupling constant αs:
αp-GDR = αp-GDR(αe, αs).
The solution of the Schrödinger equation in a centrally-symmetric field with potential
energy (8) has been well known (see, for example, [51], paragraph 36). The energy levels E(n, l)
of a discrete spectrum at a potential energy of (8), which reflect the degree of connection
between a particle of mass m0 and the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum
subject to polarization, are defined as
m c2
E (nr , l ) = −γ 02 0 2 , n≥l+1 , (9)
2n
where n is the principal quantum number. The expression for the “Bohr radius” aB determining
the localization region of the particle in this case has the form
2=
aB = . (9а)
γ 0 mc
It follows from expressions (9) and (9a) that at γ 0 = 2 the position of the lower level
(determined at l = 0 and n = 1), which characterizes the binding energy between the particle
under consideration and the QED vacuum, corresponds in magnitude to the “rest energy” of the
G
particle in the form suggested by Einstein: E0 = mc2. In that case, U (r ) r = a = −m0c 2 . It follows
B

from the meaning of expression (9) that it would be more proper to refer to the quantity E0 as the
“binding energy between the particle and the QED vacuum” than the “rest energy of the
particle”, the mass defect in nuclear processes simply characterizing the energy released as a
result of the difference in energy between the bindings of the original and final products with the
vacuum. For this reason, the statements encountered in the literature about the equivalence of
mass and energy should be considered incorrect. In what follows, we will treat the localization
region of the particle in the physical vacuum, defined by expression (9a), as the characteristic
spatial scale of the above-introduced “vacuum polaron”. (Traditionally the characteristic spatial
scale of a particle is associated with its Compton wavelength lC = 2π=/m0c).
According to expression (9a), the Bohr radius for the proton is aB = 2.82×10–14 cm; i.e., it
corresponds to the scale of action of nuclear forces. Therefore, the quantity γ0=c that at γ 0 = 2
determines, according to expression (8), the potential energy of the attractive interaction between
the particle and the QED vacuum, as a result of which the latter gets polarized in the vicinity of
the particle, can conditionally be defined as the square of the “strong interaction charge” qs, so
that qs2 = 2=c . It is natural to represent the dimensionless constant αs of such an interaction, by
analogy with the fine structure constant, in the form
α s = qs2 / =c = 2 . (9b)
In that case, potential energy (8) at l = 0 is determined by the squared strong interaction charge
qs2:
G =c q2
U (r ) = − 2 =− s . (8a)
r r
Such character of interaction with the physical vacuum is typical of any elementary
particle. If the particle is structureless (e.g., a lepton) and neutral, expression (9) then exhausts
the information significance of potential energy (8a). If such a particle is charged, its Coulomb
interactions with other particles found in the same base medium, the physical vacuum, must be
examined in the usual way. If the particle has a structure (e.g., a hadron), relation (8a) within the
particle can be considered as a “priming” potential energy of nuclear forces characterized by a
“nuclear charge” of qs and a strong interaction coupling constant of αs. Obviously with the
nuclear matter “within” such an elementary particle being dynamically mobile, the priming

12
potential of nuclear forces is shielded, and so there develop the effective potentials of “short-
range” nuclear forces that decrease exponentially with distance, like the Yukawa potential:
G q2
U (r ) = − s exp(− aBs r ) , (8b)
r
which should be used in the analysis instead of (8a). This agrees with the standard notion of the
dynamical nature of the nuclear forces that are usually associated with the exchange of π-mesons
between nucleons.
The unexpectedness of the latter result consists in the physical unity of the
electromagnetic and strong interactions that is being actually revealed at the phenomenological
level. Since the nature of the Casimir effect is associated with the local spatial changes that the
electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum undergoes in the vicinity and inside of a
material object, with the resonant amplification of some frequencies characteristic of this object
and suppression of the other frequencies contained in the spectrum of the physical vacuum, the
nuclear forces in this model constitute the response at nuclear space-time scales of the nuclear
matter to the action of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum. Obviously this
response is extremely peculiar and is governed, on the one hand, by the specific features of the
configuration and dynamics of each particular nucleus, and on the other, by its excitation. From
this viewpoint one can qualitatively comprehend the above-indicated dependence of the strong
interaction coupling constant αs on the magnitude of excitation [6].
The result obtained, (9), can be considered a “justification” of a sort for the use of
expression (8) up to distances corresponding to the size of elementary particles, for it yields
physically meaningful results. First of all, it becomes clear that all the objects in our world turn
out to be related to the QED vacuum that is being treated as a physically select base medium.
Also clear becomes the physical reason for the appearance in the expression for the particle’s rest
energy E0 of a characteristic of this medium, namely, the velocity of light in vacuum, as a
parameter entering into definition (8) of the potential, which determines, when multiplied into
the Planck constant =, the polarization of the particle in the physical vacuum and characterizes
the rate of alteration of the conditions of the particle’s conjugation with the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum during its travel in this base medium. As pointed out above, it
is exactly the polarization of the particle in the QED vacuum that can be considered a factor of
additional stabilization of elementary particles and stable isotopes, capable of keeping the
electron, like any other charged elementary particle, from rupture [45].
It is not unlikely that the nature of confinement of quarks within hadrons [6] can also be
associated with the Casimir forces. Of interest are also excited states of a particle localized in
vacuum. In particular, such levels can be manifest as “resonances”, short-lived excited hadron
states with characteristic lifetimes in the range 10–22–10–24 s that are formed in π-meson-nucleon
interactions [52].
It is obvious that despite the “connection” being discussed between all material particles
and the physical vacuum, the directivity of all local processes involving the so-called “free”
particles, i.e., such particles as are related to vacuum only, must be realized in accordance with
the principle of least action [53]. This is also true of the processes initiated by the fluctuations of
the physical vacuum (emission of a photon by an isolated excited atom [1], radiative decay). And
the aforementioned directivity is in fact responsible for the weakening of the connection between
the final products of each particular local process and the physical vacuum, the remaining
portion of energy being converted into heat (dissipated). The conclusion drawn about the
connection as per expression (9) between material particles and the QED vacuum also complies
with the modern-day cosmological notions of the apparent “freezing” of material objects into the
expanding space of the Universe [7-11] (Sec. 5).
In connection with the conclusion as to the genetic unity of the electromagnetic and
nuclear forces, note here that the intrinsic affinity between the electromagnetic and weak
interactions, whose vehicles are vector bosons – photons and heavy bosons, respectively, is of

13
different nature. These interactions prove to be a unified electroweak interaction only at energies
on the order of 100 GeV, which is commensurable with the rest energy of intermediate vector
bosons [6]. However, one can assume that it is the fluctuations of Casimir’s field (8a), associated
with the intrinsic dynamics of nuclei, that initiate the emergence of virtual vector bosons and
effective realization of four-fermion interactions leading to weak nuclear processes at low
energies. Thus, here is in fact introduced some generalized image of the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum that involves a substantial proportion of the entire energy of
the Universe and initiates manifestation of strong and maybe weak interactions by exerting effect
on every nucleus as an open system. In what follows, it is demonstrated how the aggregate of the
above-mentioned interactions is naturally supplemented with gravitation whose essence is also
directly associated with the polarization of the QED vacuum in the neighborhood of material
objects.

4. PHENOMENOLOGICAL RELATIONS FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL AND

INTERACTION CONSTANTS

Let us use the formal, “cosmological” representation of the Planck constant = that was
introduced by Weinberg [16] who paid attention to the approximate equality
1 12 32 12
=≈ G mπ RH , (10)
2π
where G is the gravitational constant, RH =c/H is the Hubble radius (estimator of the radius of the
Universe), H is the Hubble constant (estimator of the age of the Universe, t = H–1, Sec. 5), and
mπ is the mass of the π-meson. Such a numerological representation of the Planck constant
proves heuristically useful, for it helps one to comprehend the cosmological essence of the law
of universal gravitation. To this end, it will be expedient to express the Planck constant = in a
different way:

1 1 2 3 2 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 1 2 −1 2 G1 2 EQ3 2
== G mQ RH = G mQ c H = . (11)
2π 2π 2π c5 2 H 1 2
Introduced here is a new energy parameter – EQ = mQc2 ≈ 209.5 MeV – whose value is set such
that expression (11) is not an approximate, but exact equality involving the well-known
relation between the de Broglie wavelength and the particle momentum. In that case, the
parameter EQ can be treated as the specific energy of alteration of the physical vacuum that
corresponds to the elementary quantum of action. It should be noted that the value found for
the parameter EQ turns out to be correspondent to the energy scale of the quantity EQCD
considered in quantum chromodynamics. It is nuclear temperatures corresponding to the
energy EQCD ~ 200 MeV that are critical to the phase transition whereby quarks inside the
nucleus cease to be bound in nucleons, so that a quark-gluon plasma is formed. It is exactly this
parameter that is considered as a characteristic quantity determining the masses of light quarks,
protons, neutrons, and ρ-mesons [6, 54]. Note that the use of the quantity EQCD = 209.5 MeV
in computing the nucleon mass mN by the approximate formula expressing it in terms of the
2
quark condensate [54] yields mN ≈ 899 MeV/c , which differs from the experimental value by
a mere 5%.
It also proves expedient to represent expression (11) in the form

G=
(2π = )2 H =
8π 2cH 2 8π c aQ
aQ =
2 2 2

. (11а)
mQ3 c mQ mQ RH

14
Here aQ = 21/2=/mQc ≈ 1.3×10–13 cm = 1.3 fermi is the “Bohr radius” (9a) associated with the
mass mQ. The quantity mQ = EQ/c2 ≈ 3.72×10–25 g found above can be assigned the meaning of
the elementary “gravitational” mass. In that case, it proves expedient to normalize the ith particle
masses mi appearing in the universal gravitation equation to mQ and treat the quantity µi = mi/mQ
as the relative mass of the ith particle. The quantity qg2 ≡ GmQ2 then can be treated as the
squared elementary “gravitational” charge and, considering expressions (11a) and (9b), introduce
the dimensionless gravitational interaction constant αg defined as
1
GmQ2 =H 2 aQ 2 τQ ⎛ EQ ⎞ 2 q g2
αg = = (2π ) 2
2
= 2 π α s = 2π −1
α s = π ⎜
⎜ ⎟
⎟ α s = 2
α s ≈ 3.08 × 10−40 . (12)
=c mQ c RH H ⎝ Etot ⎠ qs
–24
In this expression, τQ = αQ/c ≈ 4.34×10 s stands for the characteristic “Bohr time” associated
with the mass mQ and the quantity Etot is introduced to denote the total energy content of the
Universe at its specified age of t = H –1, defined as
c5 1
Etot = ⋅ . (13)
2G H
Expression (12) reflects the quantum essence of the gravitational interaction (αg ~ =). According
to the ideas being expounded, gravitation owes to the formation around each material particle of
an attractive field for other particles as a consequence of the polarization of the physical vacuum
in the vicinity of this particle. Such attractive fields, characterized by an infinite radius of action,
make the potential barrier between particles approaching one another lower. For this reason, if
the particles are free, there develops a component (drift) of their attractive force. The particles
can merge, provided that this process is energetically advantageous. Hence it also follows that
the propagation rate of gravitational interactions should be related not to the velocity of light in
vacuum, c, but to the relaxation rate of the QED vacuum, which, as noted earlier in connection
with the investigations [20, 24], substantially exceeds c. As follows from expressions (12), the
quantity αg is 38 orders of magnitude smaller than the fine structure constant αe. The reason for
such smallness is obvious: it is the smallness of the ratio between the characteristic size of the
polarization region of the QED vacuum in the vicinity of the particle of “elementary
gravitational mass” and the characteristic size of the Universe. The name “law of universal
gravitation” given to the empirical relationship describing the gravitational interaction of two
arbitrary masses is thereby “justified” at the conceptual level.
For comparison, let us present the quantity squared “elementary weak interaction
charge” qF2 ≡GF/aQ2, where GF = 1.436×10–49 erg cm3 ≈ 1.17×10–5(=c)3 GeV–2 is the Fermi
four-fermion interaction constant [6, 55], and the corresponding dimensionless constant
q2 1 aF2
αF = F = 2
α s ≈ 2.8 10 –5, (14)
=c 2 aQ
where aF = (GF/=c)1/2 ≈ 0.69×10–16 cm. We also present the following expression for the energy
parameter η of the scalar field in the standard electroweak interaction theory [55]:
(=c ) 2
3
=c =
η= 1 1
= 1
= 1
≈ 246 GeV, (14а)
2 GF 2 aF 2 τ F
4 2 4 4

–27
where τF = aF/c ≈ 2.3×10 s. Note that the mass of the Higgs boson is expressed in terms of the
parameter η as mH = λHη/c2, where λH is a dimensionless parameter (see Ref. [55]). It follows
from the experiments conducted at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) [38, 39] that the mass of
the Higgs boson is mH = 125.5 GeV/c2, and so λH ≈ 0.51.
Let us also write down the expressions for the quantities βis – the ratios between the
squared elementary charges i of the interactions considered above (i = e, F, g) and the squared
elementary strong interaction charge qs2 = 2 =c :

15
 qe2 qF2 qg2
βes = 2
= 0.516 × 10 −2
, β Fs = 2
= 0.74 × 10 −6
, βgs = 2
= 2.05 × 10 −40. (15)
qs qs qs
In the introductory section, we indicated the set of problems facing the standard theory of
the dynamics of the Universe. In our opinion, the solution of these problems should rely not on
“cosmetic” corrections, like the introduction of a modified law of gravitation at superlong
distances into the cosmological models being developed [56, 57], but on alteration of the basic
positions of the present-day cosmology. It is precisely the introduction of the concept of physical
vacuum “tied” to the expanding Universe, considered as a unified integral system, with unified
global time introduced, that allows the problems facing the standard theory to be resolved,
provided that some additional hypotheses are brought in. In particular, it is precisely the effects
of growth of inertial masses in the course of their relativistic movement with respect to the base
system that the enigmatic “dark matter” phenomenon will be associated with later in the text
(Sect. 6.1).
And at the same time, the physical vacuum appears as the present-day “ether”, as a
certain material substance. We believe it is precisely this medium, considered as the base
medium for all the objects in the Universe, that is characterized by the homogeneity and isotropy
on all spatial scales, from subnuclear to tens of millions of light years, whereon changes in the
world constants still remain imperceptible (Sect. 6). And according to the Noether theorem [58],
such properties of a medium provide for the implementation of the laws of conservation of
energy, momentum, and moment of momentum in the course of dynamic movements of all
material objects included in this medium in accordance with the principle of least action [53]. It
is also important to emphasize that the physical vacuum appears, too, as an energy-saturated
substance that governs the apparent dynamics of the Universe. The phenomenological grounds
for the last deduction is provided by the well-known set of Planck numbers initially introduced
as purely numerological relations.

5. PLANKIAN ENERGY-MASS SOURCE. BASIC RELATIONS OF THE

PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE DYNAMICS

The Planckian parameters – Planckian length, aPl, Planckian time, tPl, and Planckian mass, mPl
– were introduced by Max Planck in 1899 from dimensionality considerations by combining the
fundamental constants – = , c, and G [59]:
3 G= 1 = a 3 G=
aPl = 2 4 3
=2 2 ≈ 2.64 ⋅ 10− 33 cm, t Pl = Pl = 2 4 ≈ 0.88 ⋅ 10− 43 s,
c mPl c c c5
−1 =c
mPl = 2 4
≈ 1.78 ⋅ 10− 5 g. (16)
G
(The choice of the numerical factors appearing in the above expressions will be explained
elsewhere in the text.) The values of the length and time parameters, aPl and tPl, respectively, are
absolutely unattainable under conditions of physical experiment at all times [59]. Also
unattainable in accelerators is the energy mPlc2 determined by the Planckian mass, though there is
nothing mysterious in the mass mPl. To unite the entire set of the Planckian numbers by
imparting to them an outward feature of “unattainability”, it seems natural to consider instead of
the parameter mPl the Planckian power wPl that may be represented, with due regard for the
numerical coefficient, in the form
wPl = mPlc2/ tPl = c5/2G ≈ 1.8×1059 erg/s. (17)
Although the Planckian parameters have attracted attention of investigators for over 100 years
now, especially since the thirties of the last century, in connection with the search for ways to
naturally combine quantum mechanics and gravitation, the purely numerological genesis of the
pertinent relations, the absence of any model arguments confirming the validity of the interest
shown, left grounds for heuristic expectations only. To find such arguments, we will use

16
Schwartzshild’s solution of Einstein’s equations of the GTR for the ds2 metric of the Friedmann
space-time in spherical coordinates (r, θ, φ) in the vicinity of a unit material object of mass M
(see Ref. [18]):

⎛ 2MG ⎞ 2 2
ds 2 = ⎜1 −
rc 2 ⎟
c dt + 2
2MG
r
[ ]
dt dr − dr 2 + r 2 (dθ 2 + sin 2 θ dϕ 2 ) . (18)
⎝ ⎠
⎛ r ⎞
It follows from expression (18) that the time component of the interval g 00 ~ ψ (r ) = −⎜1 − Sc ⎟
⎝ r ⎠
2GM
goes to zero at distances r = rSc = 2 from the object. It is well known that this result was
c
used as an argument in favor of the existence of “black holes”. If we use the different notation
⎛ w ⎞
ψ (r ) = −⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟ , (19)
⎝ wSc ⎠
Mc 3
where the quantity w = can be treated as the power of the source producing the energy Mc 2
r
Mc3 c 5
in the time r/c and the parameter wSc = = appears as the power corresponding to the
rSc 2G
Schwartzshild time tSc = rSc/c, the same logic then leads to the conclusion that the existence of an
energy source with a power of wSc is possible. It was precisely by comparing between wSc (19)
and wPl (17) and representing the Planckian length aPl = 2= / mPlc as the “Bohr radius” of a
particle with a mass of mPl involved in the polarization of the QED vacuum that the numerical
factors entering into expression (16) were determined. Obviously from among the above-
mentioned Planckian numbers only the power wPl, whose definition contains no Planck’s
constant = , can be considered as a parameter of GTR equations containing no = in explicit form.
The organic unity of the parameter wPl with the GTR formalism is also substantiated by the
fact [17] that the constantly acting hypothetical source of Planckian power, which originated at
the onset of the inflatory phase of the Big Bang [60], could produce the entire energy-mass of the
observable Universe during the course of its evolution. To make sure of that, let us introduce the
total value εtot of the average energy density, without singling out yet, as done in the standard
model, individual components characterizing the respective average energy densities of the
physical vacuum, “dark matter” (the physical meaning of this component will be explained later
in the text), and the baryonic component. We will associate the above energy density εtot with the
4 c
configuration volume VH = πRH3 confined in the sphere of the Hubble radius RH = (see Ref.
3 H
[60]) that is sometimes defined as the “radius of the Universe”. Note that according to the
estimates [12], in the present epoch H = 73 km/(s⋅Mpc) ≈ 2.36×10–18 s–1, so that H–1 ≈ 13.4
billion years, and for the estimator of the radius of the Universe, we have RH = c/H ~ 1028 cm. At
the same time, the average energy density of the Universe is εtot ≈ 0.9×10–8 erg/cm3.
We will assume that the inflatory phase of the Big Bang concluded with the origination of a
hypothetical source of Planckian power, whose energy is being uniformly distributed and
generated constantly in every element of the already originated and originating space, every
element of the Universe’s volume expanding as a result of such an energy release, though actual
manifestations of this expansion can only be detected on cosmological scales. (The possible
nature of the Planckian energy-mass source and the mechanism governing the transfer of its
energy to the Universe is discussed in Sect. 7). In that case, one can readily estimate the amount
of energy, Etot, which the constantly acting Planckian energy-mass source could have produced
during the lifetime t of the Universe, if one defines this time, within the scope of the
phenomenological approach being developed here, as the reciprocal of the Hubble constant, t =

17
H – 1 (in this case, it differs by 2.2% from the 13.7 billion years’ age of the Universe adopted in
recent years), and assumes in addition that the power wPl of the Plankian energy-mass source is
independent of the age of the expanding Universe. It is evident that
c5 1 4
Etot = wPlt = ⋅ = π RH3 ε tot . (20)
2G H 3

Considering that RH = c/H, we get from the above expression

3c2 H 2
ε tot = . (21)
8π G
Expression (21) for the average density εtot of the energy-mass obtained from the Planckian
source of the Universe during the time t of its existence/expansion in compliance with the
relation RH = c/H = ct will be used as the main relation for the Friedmann expanding base
reference system being introduced, whereto the QED vacuum is believed to be related. It should
be noted here that relation (20) is considered as being purely phenomenological. It is assumed
that the parameters G and c can themselves vary with the time t, while the quantity εtot does not
change with time.
We take as the base physical object the three-dimensional spherical Euclidean space of the
Universe that is related to the QED vacuum and varies dynamically during the global time t
common to all the points of the space and reckoned from the Big Bang. According to [12], the
main contribution to the averaged total energy density εtot comes from the so-called dark energy
which in the standard model [7-11] is identified with the energy of the physical vacuum. In
contrast to [7-11], we relate to dark energy only the energy of the QED vacuum, the energy
density of this component being denoted as ε Ve . Further, in accordance with Sec. 2, we assume
that every elementary particle, every atomic nucleus polarizes the QED vacuum around itself,
thus forming a “vacuum polaron” as a system bound to the QED vacuum. As shown in Sec. 3,
the energy of such a bonding between a particle of mass m0 and the physical vacuum
corresponds in magnitude to the “rest energy” of the particle in Einstein’s formulation, E0 =
m0c2.
We believe that it is this phenomenon – the bonding of material objects to the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum – that is the reason for the effective “freezing” of material
objects into the expanding space of the Universe, as assumed in the standard model [7-11]. It is
exactly as an exhibition of such a “freezing-in” that every galaxy, every galactic cluster moves as
an integral system in the course of expansion of the Universe, with the relative movements of
individual stars, constellations, and nebulae within every galaxy being extremely variegated as a
result of their interactions realized in accordance with the principle of least action (PLA) [53].
This circumstance stresses once more how natural it is to associate with the expanding Universe
the physical vacuum as the base medium and the sole frame of reference with a unified global
time common to all objects in the Universe.
It is obvious that given such a base system, the degree of “freezing-in” of cosmological
objects increases when they move with relativistic velocities with respect to Friedmann’s base
frame of reference, so that the polarization region of the vacuum decreases along the direction of
their travel and tends to zero as u → c. And it is precisely with the difficulties of the dynamic
alteration of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum in the region of its
conjugation with material objects moving with relativistic velocities, which lead, according to
Feynman’s conception of expression (1) [15], to the increase in the inertial mass of
cosmologically distant galaxies and galactic clusters moving in the base medium – Friedmann’s
space, that we associate the phenomenon of the so-called “dark matter” which accounts for 23 %
of the entire energy of the Universe [7-11].
As in the standard model, we single out the components ε be and ε dm e
from the total energy
density of the Universe, ε tot . We associate with the term ε be the density of the energy binding to

18
the QED vacuum all the mass components (both baryonic and leptonic) of the Universe in their
state of rest with respect to the base space (reference system) – the Friedmann space-time. This
quantity characterizing the degree of “freezing” of the resting mass components into the space of
the QED vacuum is negative: ε be = − ε be . According to Sec. 2 and Feynman’s idea of the
relativistic growth of mass [15] the dynamical mass and, correspondingly, the degree of
“freezing-in” of cosmological objects increase in the case of their relativistic motion with
respect to the Friedmann reference system, when the vacuum polarization region decreases in the
travel direction, tending to zero as u →c. It is with this phenomenon – the growth of the degree
of binding to the QED vacuum of the mass components in the case of their relativistic motion
with respect to the Friedmann reference system – that we associate the energy density
component ε dm e
, which is also negative: ε dm
e
= − ε dm
e
. The subscript dm is used here to denote
that the energy density so introduced is related to “dynamical mass” and not to hypothetical
“dark matter”, as is the case with the standard model. The definitions of ε be and ε dm
e
being what
they are, we will associate with the density of dark energy, ε Ve , the difference ε Ve = ε tot – ε be –
εdm. Naturally we retain here the values of the relative “mass” fractions Ωbe = Ωb = ε be / ε tot =
0.04 and Ω edm = Ωdm = ε dm
e
/ ε tot = 0.23 of the respective components ε be and ε dm
e
in accordance
with the data available in the literature [12, 61]. In Sect. 7 we will adduce arguments explaining
possible reasons for the sufficiently high proportion of “dark matter” (23 %) in the total energy
balance of the Universe. In that case, for the relative proportion of the energy density of the QED
vacuum, we get: ΩVe = ε Ve /εtot = 1.27, ΩVe ≠ ΩV .
The introduction of the Planckian energy-mass source whose energy is being constantly
released in every element of space is quite adequate to the representation of the dynamics of the
Universe in terms of Friedmann’s equations wherein the entire energy and mass are assumed to
be uniformly distributed all over the Universe. It is exactly the permanent action of this energy-
mass source in every element of space that can compensate for the disbalance developing
constantly between the energy content of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum
and local processes of dissipation of the energy of the QED vacuum, which incessantly sustain
the states of particles and nuclei as open systems. The introduction of the Planckian energy-mass
source permanently producing energy-mass in every elementary volume of the Universe into the
model of its dynamics also agrees with the basic cosmological principle whereby every observer
at one and the same instant of time finds in the Universe one and the same picture, no matter
what the observation site and direction. It is with this circumstance in mind that the Friedmann
equations are constructed for a simply connected closed system – the Pioncaré 3D sphere –
wherein all the points at rest are equivalent as to location. For such a sphere, it is traditionally
assumed that the point at which the Big Bang took place is where we are now, and where all the
rest of the points are found, for all the discernible points of space had been primordially found at
one and the same place [59]. The recent proof by Perelman [62] of the Poincaré hypothesis that
any 3D manifold is topologically equivalent to a 3D sphere, provided that each loop in the space
can be tightened to a point, has strengthened the arguments associating our Universe with a
three-dimensional sphere. If this were so, the Big Bang theory could appear more natural: if such
a three-dimensional figure could be tightened to a “point”, it would also be possible to extend it
from the “point”. Nevertheless, the absolute impossibility of imagining a three-dimensional
sphere as a physical object that could have originated upon a point Bang with divergent flows of
the material substance being formed, and with the complete equivalence, too, of all the points
within its volume being retained during the course of its subsequent evolution, leaves grounds
for doubts. The question now arises as to how the radial velocity components of the primordial
substance formed from some small volume at the instant of the Big Bang are transformed into
the radial components of matter scattering from every point of the volume formed at the
subsequent instants of time. In conditions of the Planckian energy-mass source active in the

19
Universe with a topology in the form of a three-dimensional sphere under consideration, the
radial components of matter expanding from every point of the volume formed at each
subsequent instant of time are being naturally compensated for, so that a medium is formed with
an isotropic and homogeneous distribution of matter and pressure effective in this medium. And
it is exactly this pressure, peff, positive in magnitude and sustained through the action of the
Planckian energy-mass source, that could do the work on increasing the volume of the Universe
by “pushing apart” previously formed matter. In conditions of the Planckian energy-mass source
acting in the Universe with its topology in the form of a three-dimensional sphere under
consideration, the radial velocity components of matter flying away from every point of the
volume formed at every subsequent instant of time are being naturally compensated for, so that a
medium is formed with isotropic and homogeneous distribution of matter and the effective
pressure peff active therein. It is such pressure, peff, positive in magnitude and maintained through
the action of the Planckian energy-mass source, that could do the work on increasing the volume
of the Universe by “pushing apart” previously formed matter.
We will assume that the dynamics of the expansion of the base space obeys the
phenomenological Hubble relation for the rate of change, a , of the scale factor a:
a = Ha , (22)
as well as phenomenological relation (21) that represents in integral form the total energy
content of the Universe at every instant of time. Taking into consideration expression (22),
relation (21) may be formally written down in the form of the 1st Friedmann equation [7-11, 60]
for the Euclidean space, but with a different meaning of the parameters ε Ve , ε be , and ε dm
e
:
2
⎛ a ⎞ 8π G e
⎜ ⎟ = 2
(ε V + ε be + ε dm
e
). (23)
⎝a⎠ 3c
To evaluate the quantity peff, we consider the amount of work, ∆A, done on forming
fresh space by increasing the radius of the Universe, RH, by an amount of ∆RH in a time of ∆t.
Considering expression (22) and assuming that the forces responsible for the work on the
expansion of the Universe, associated with the pushing apart of the already formed and matter-
containing space, are governed by the QED vacuum, we have
εe ∆VH ∆RH
∆A = V wPl ∆t = peff ∆VH RH = peff ⋅ R ∆t = peff ⋅ 3VH H∆t ,
ε tot ∆RH ∆t H
and so for the quantity peff we get
ε Ve c 5 1
peff = = ε Ve . (24)
8πε tot RH HG 3
3

Actually expression (24) “replaces” the 2nd Friedmann equation [7-11, 60] in the standard
model, wherefrom they usually derive the state equation relating the effective pressure p
averaged over all galaxies and galactic clusters to the density of the energy components of the
Universe. (The pressure p considered in the standard model is made negative in magnitude in
order to realize “antigravity”). Estimate (24) yields peff ≈ 3.8×10 –9 erg/cm3, which completely
agrees with the values adopted for the repulsive pressure [7-11].
It should be noted that the questions brought up when considering the system of relations
(23) and (24) actually concern the mechanisms behind the action of the QED vacuum on the
material objects of the Universe (the term ε Ve ), involving the production of the pressure peff and
also the possible role of the energy of binding of the material objects to the QED vacuum (the
terms ε be and ε dm
e
) in the dynamics of the Universe. Such actions can be conditioned by a
noticeable contribution from the quantum fluctuations of the QED vacuum to the radiation
pressure (macroscopic manifestations of such effects were observed in [33]), the static Casimir
effect [3, 4], and also the dynamical Casimir effect [34, 35] involving direct transformation of
virtual photons into real photons at the boundaries of material objects traveling with relativistic
velocities.

20
 We refrain here from dwelling upon the well-studied processes of nucleosynthesis at the
primordial Big Bang, the subsequent incessant star formation processes, including those initiated
by the energy transferred from the Planckian energy-mass source (Sect. 7), and the processes of
formation of heavy elements taking place at supernova explosions [60]. Naturally such processes
of production of the baryonic components of matter are accompanied with the formation of the
quantum chromodynamics (QCD) vacuum characterized by the energy scales of its own [7-11],
adequate energies being naturally needed to excite such vacuum, inclusive of the generation of
particle-antiparticle pairs. It should be emphasized here that the “inclusion” of the Planckian
energy-mass source as a factor governing the dynamics of the Universe in every elementary
volume of its space is not manifest in some specific features of the dynamics, because of the
going to zero, according to (18), of the contribution to the time component of the Friedmann
space-time interval (see also Sect. 7).
The phenomenological concepts being developed have made it possible to resolve the
problems arising in the standard theory, those associated with the introduction of “dark energy”
and “dark matter” included, from a unified position – with the Planckian energy-mass source
introduced into the dynamics of the Universe and the base reference system with common global
time used. The QED vacuum here also plays the part of the substance that unites and forms all
the known types of interaction – strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational (Sec. 4).
The use of the introduced (Sec.4) characteristic quantities aQ and mQ allows the Planckian
numbers aPl, tPl, mPl, and wPl written down above (see expressions (16) and (17)) to be
represented in a more “compact” form:
1 1 1
⎛ aQ ⎞ 2 ⎛ aQ ⎞ 2 1 ⎛ RH ⎞ 2 2
1 mQ c RH
aPl = 2π aQ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ , t Pl = 2π τ Q ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ , mPl = mQ ⎜ ⎟ , wPl = ⋅ . (25)
⎝ RH ⎠ ⎝ RH ⎠ 2π ⎜a ⎟
⎝ Q⎠ (2π )2 τ Q aQ
These relations demonstrate the cosmological essence of the “smallness” of the Planckian
parameters aPl and tPl, as well as the cosmological scale of the quantities mPl and wPl. It is
exactly such representation of the Planckian numbers that can be considered as a confirmation
of the validity of the more than hundred years’ interest in these unique combinations of the
universal constants. And it seems that it is not only Planckian numbers (16), but also the
modified Weinberg representation of the Planck constant, introduced in Sec. 4 and used as the
basis for expression (11), that are the phenomenological, rather than numerological relations
implying as yet unresolved mysteries of our Universe.
The relations obtained also allow one to gain an insight into the “orders-of-magnitude
paradox” of the modern-day standard cosmological model [9-11] mentioned above and
resolved in this work on the basis of the idea that dark energy represents the energy density of
the QED vacuum, εVe, which determines the cosmological constant Λ = 8πDεVe/c4, and not the
energy of the quantum chromodynamics vacuum of the standard model. Thanks to the constant
action of the Planckian energy-mass source, no problems arise here with the establishment of
the causes of the perpetual expansion of the Universe and no need exists to postulate
“antigravity” artificially (at the cost of the “orders-of-magnitude paradox”). The relations
presented below lay bare the cosmological nature of the smallness of the proportionality factors
between εVe and the energy densities used in [7-11] for the physical vacuum:
−5 a
ε Ve = ΩV ε tot = 3 × 2 2 ΩVe Q ε QCD ≈ 0.87 × 10− 41ε QCD , (26)
RH
3
1 ⎛a ⎞
ε = 3 × 2 π Ω ⎜⎜ Q ⎟⎟ ε Pl ≈ 1.08 × 10−121ε Pl .
e
V
2 e
V (27)
⎝ RH ⎠
To conclude this section, it should be emphasized that the notion expounded in this
work that dark energy is essentially the energy of the QED vacuum is based, in accordance
with Chernin’s opinion [10], on the use in the pertinent calculations of one of the Planckian
parameters, namely, the Planckian power wPl (expression (17)).

21
6. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE PHYSICAL VACUUM IN VARIOUS PERIODS OF
EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE

The Planckian energy-mass source model has not only made it possible to relate the value of
one of the Planckian parameters, namely, the Planckian power, to the observable value of the
density of dark energy, which is being associated with the electromagnetic component of the
physical vacuum, and abandon the physically little comprehensible idea of antigraviatation in
the dynamics of the Universe, but also opened the way to gain a consistent insight into a
number of other cosmological problems concerned with the establishment of reasons why the
evolution dynamics of the Universe differed between different epochs. To resolve such
problems within the scope of general phenomenology, it will be necessary to introduce notions
of the possible dependence of the world constants G, =, and c on the Hubble parameter H = t–1,
where t is the age of the Universe, or on the appropriate dimensionless variable h(t) = H/H0,
where H0 is the value of the Hubble parameter in our epoch. When discussing such a
possibility, attention should primarily be focused on the practically negligible value (around
0.6×10–6) of the relative change ∆αe/αe of the fine structure constant αe = e2/=c ≈ 1/137 for the
regions of the Universe with red shifts z > 0.4 [63]. The arguments adduced above in favor of
the natural relation of the Planckian power to the Schwarzschild solution, as well as to the
formation of the total energy content of the Universe in terms of the Friedmann equations, give
grounds to treat wPl = c5/2G as one more, in addition to αe, combination of world constants
independent of the age H–1 of the Universe.
For the subsequent qualitative estimations, we will simplify still more the situation and
take it that the density εtot of local energy content and the elementary charge e are independent
of H. In that case, it follows from the definition of αe, expression (17) for wPl, and relations
(10), (11), (21), (25) that
2 10 −2 −13 4
c(t ) = c0 ⋅ h(t ) 3 , G (t ) = G0 ⋅ h(t ) 3
, =(t ) = = 0 ⋅ h(t ) 3
, mQ (t ) = mQ 0 ⋅ h(t ) 9
, α g (t ) = α g 0 ⋅ h(t ) 9

(28)
where the subscript “0” indicates quantities corresponding to the present-day epoch. The
assumptions made are adequate to a qualitative discussion of various problems facing modern
cosmology, as demonstrated by the examples presented below.

6.1. Specificities of the Dynamics of the Universe at the Early Stages of its Evolution
One of the problems before the present-day cosmology pertains to the understanding of the
reasons why the specific energy density of the most powerful energy sources originated at the
early stages of the evolution of the Universe had been substantially higher (by up to a thousand
times! [64]) than the corresponding quantities observed for subsequent epochs. It had been just
the early stages of the evolution of the Universe, characterized by red shifts of z ∼ 1 and more, at
which quasars had originated and gamma-ray bursters had made their appearance. According to
Ref. [65], largely responsible for the formation of the far-infrared and submillimeter radiation
background detected today, whose total energy is comparable with the total optical radiation
background, are hundreds of individual sources with z ≥ 1.2, associated with the formation of
stars and galaxies, which can be resolved with the aid of modern equipment. The existence of
powerful energy sources of this type in the subsequent stages of the evolution of the Universe
was not detected.
Such differences in the character of formation of stars and powerful energy sources at the
early stages of the evolution of the Universe are associated in the standard model [7-11] with the
relatively higher proportion of energy density accounted for in these early epochs by “ordinary”
(luminous) matter, εb, and dark matter, εdm, compared to the density εV of dark energy, so that εV
< εm = εdm + εb. Since it is assumed in this case that the energy densities εdm and εb naturally
decrease with increasing volume of the Universe (all the mass components had originated at the

22
Big Bang), while the quantity εV remains unchanged [7-11], the total energy density εtot = εm + εV
that had occurred at the early stages of the evolution of the Universe had to exceed the quantity
εtot for the later stages, thus making for intense star formation processes. But how can one
comprehend at that the unexpectedly rapid chemical evolution of the early universe, as indicated
by the results of the chemical analysis of one of the galaxies 12.4 billion light years distant from
Earth, wherein nitrogen and carbon were discovered [66]?
Within the scope of the notions being developed, with the total energy density εtot
remaining the same, it is natural to associate the intense star formation, as well as the possibility
of acceleration of the pace of chemical evolution, at the early stages of the evolution of the
Universe, characterized by high H values, with the different values of the “world constants” that
had obtained in those epochs, as follows from relations (28). The abnormally high specific
density of formation of the most powerful energy sources at the early stages of the evolution of
the Universe should be first of all associated with the higher, according to relation (28), value of
the specific gravitation constant αg. It can also be assumed that the more intense formation of
stars and quasi-star systems had been facilitated, according to relation (28), by the higher values
of the velocity of light, c, and also the lower values of the Planck constant = . Indeed, higher c
values allow for high velocities and kinetic energies of moving masses, while at low values of
the Planck constant = the extent of limitations on quantum transitions is reduced, which
manifests itself as an increase in the phase volume in the probability calculations for the
processes.
One can also point out the obviously lower contribution from the effects of polarization
of the physical vacuum in the course of relativistic motion of matter with respect to the base
medium at the early stages of evolution of the dynamics of the Universe, for, according to
relations (28), the velocity of light, c(t), at the time had been higher, which had allowed for
substantially higher “pre-relativistic” recessional velocities of material objects in accordance
with the Hubble law. Thus, the proportion of the component ε dm e
in the total energy density εtot
had been lower, so that the contribution from the “non-relativistic” baryonic component ε be had
been noticeably higher, provided that the quantity ε Ve had remained unchanged. This possibility
is indirectly confirmed by the inferences that “dark matter” had been absent at the pre-galactic
stages of the evolution of the Universe, some 100–200 million years following the Big Bang
[67]. Obviously as the velocity c(t) decreases with the age of the Universe in conditions of time
common to the entire Universe, the “pre-relativistic” recessional velocities of material objects,
including gas-dust components, formed at the early evolution stages and “frozen” in the physical
vacuum can become relativistic. This will lead to corresponding changes in the polarization
regions of the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum in the neighborhood of these
objects, which governs the relativistic increase of their inertial masses, and hence to the
appearance of the εdm component in the total energy density εtot. It can be assumed that it was
precisely evolutional changes of this type in the dynamics of the Universe that were responsible
for the relatively high contribution (23% in our epoch) of “dark matter” to the total energy
balance of the Universe. While the masses originated at the early stages of evolution of the
Universe were turning into relativistic ones, there could take place dissipative processes of
generation not only of photons, leading to the development of glow owing to the dynamical
Casimir effect [34-35], but also possibly of baryons, because of strong interactions being
genetically conditioned by the QED vacuum. In that case, there could originate some gas flows
forming halos around such galactic clusters. To reveal such halos, provided that they had arisen,
it is of interest to conduct investigations into possible differences between the manifestations of
“dark matter” at different stages of its formation.

6.2. Possible Causes of the Anomalies in the Energy Releases of Type Ia Supernovae in Remote
Galaxies

23
Within the scope of the phenomenological model of the dynamics of the Universe under
consideration, one can comprehend possible reasons for the reduction of the energy releases
detected on the outbursts of Type Ia supernovae in galaxies far away from us (over 4 billion light
years) [68-71], as compared with the expected ones. Such supernovae are usually considered
“standard candles of the Universe”, the energy release on their outbursts being quite definite. It
were just the anomalies detected which formed the basis for the inferences drawn within the
scope of the standard model [7-11, 71] that the expansion of the Universe at red shifts of z >
0.76, when its size was no more than 0.57 of the size it has in our epoch, took its course with
lower velocities than it occurs in our time. Moreover, according to the standard model, later on
the expansion velocity had only to grow higher because of the natural reduction of the relative
proportion εm of the mass components (see above) against the background of the invariable
energy density εV of “black energy” that brings “antigravity” into effect.
To analyze the data available on the energy releases of Type Ia supernovae in remote
galaxies [11, 12, 72], we consider the relationship between the luminosity distance DL(z) and the
red shift z, with due regard for the function c(H) introduced above (see relations (28)). The
quantity DL(z) is defined as the path traversed by light emitted at the instant te by a source
located at a distance of r from the coordinate origin (r = 0) at which is situated the observer that
detects the emitted light at the instant t0 [11, 73]. By definition, the red shift is given by
ν − ν 0 a(t0 )
z= e = − 1. (29)
ν0 a (te )
Here νe and ν0 are the frequencies of light emitted by the stellar source and received by the
observer, respectively, and a(te) and a(t0) are the “sizes” of the Universe at the instants te and
t0. The distance covered by light, which is determined by the totality of displacements of its
wave front along the geodetic line for metric in a homogeneous Euclidean space, with due
consideration given for its lengthening by (1 + z) times owing to the expansion of the Universe,
may be represented, on generalization of the expression presented in [74], in the form
t0
c[a(t )]dt
DL ( z ) = (1 + z )a(t0 ) ∫ , (30)
te
a(t )
where relationship is introduced between the velocity of light and the current size of the
Universe. Having made the substitution of variable
a(t ) a(t ) da 1 da
ξ = 0 − 1; dξ = − 2 0 dt ; = H (ξ )
a (t ) a (t ) dt a (t ) dt
and a number of transformations, with due regard for relation (28), we get
z
DL ( z ) = (1 + z ) ∫
c(ξ ) (1 + z )c0
z
dξ
0
H (ξ )
dξ = 2 ∫ 1
H 3 0 H 3 (ξ )
. (31)
0
In the absence of relation (29), when с(Н) = с0, the corresponding expression has the form
dξ
z
DL0 ( z ) = (1 + z ) c0 ∫ . (31а)
0
H (ξ )
The quantitative analysis of these relationships is complicated by the difficulty of
obtaining direct information on the dependence c(z) in distant galaxies, since the integrand in
the expression for the luminosity distance contains a combination c(z)/H(z). However,
qualitative assessments in this case can be made. Since the function Н = Н(z) increases with
increasing z, relationship (31) between the luminosity distance and the red shift proves a more
rapidly increasing function than the standard relation (31a) that is defined at c(H) = c0 and
actually leads to the underrating of the true distance to the light source cosmological distances
away. This means that the phenomenon of reduced energy releases measured for type Ia
supernovae in distant galaxies, as compared to the standard values in nearby galaxies, is but
apparent and can be comprehended without resort to the assumption of accelerated expansion

24
of the Universe in the later epochs, if the hypothesis that the world constants depend on the age
of the Universe is adopted.
To conclude this section, let us present one more inference of the phenomenological notions
being expounded about the dynamics of the universe, which elucidates the physical meaning of
the phenomenological Hubble relation (22). Considering relations (28), the Hubble “radius of
the Universe”, RH(t), represented as a limiting form of expression (22), is
2
c(t ) ⎛H ⎞ 3
2 1
RH (t ) = = c0t ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ = c0t0 3 t 3
, (32)
H (t ) ⎝ H0 ⎠
where t0 is the age of the Universe in our epoch. This relation means that, given constant wPl
3
and εtot, the volume VU(t) of the Universe increases in proportion to time, VU(t) ~ RH ~ t, in
accordance with relation (20), and so the Hubble law simply reflects the constancy of the
average energy density in the expanding Universe being realized with the active Planckian
energy-mass source. Note also the reduction of the rate of extension of the “radius of the
−2
Universe” with its age, R (t ) ~ t 3 , in contrast to the inference of the standard model that the
H
expansion of the Universe accelerated in subsequent epochs.

7. PHYSICAL VACUUM OF THE UNIVERSE AND INFLATION VACUUM

The phenomenological notions developed here that the power of the Plnckian energy-mass
source is being evenly distributed all over the space of the Universe correspond to Friedmann’s
equation (23) written down for the case where the entire energy-mass is also assumed to be
uniformly distributed over the volume of the Universe. To go over to more adequate models of
the dynamics of the Universe that would allow for nonuniformity in the distribution of masses
over space, would require introduction of notions about successive origination of local
Planckian power sources that integrally maintain the conservation of the fundamental
cosmological principle – the homogeneity and isotropism of the distribution of matter over the
Universe. Considered as one such possibility may be a temporally consecutive switching-on of
Planckian energy-mass sources of chaotically varying localization on the outer sphere of radius
RH; i.e., at the boundary between the already formed Universe and the primeval, inflation
vacuum whose space had begun being absorbed, following the Big Bang, by the expanding
Universe being formed. In other words, we will assume that in contrast to the existing models
of the dynamics of the Universe [75, 76] not all of the energy of the inflation vacuum, defined
as the “false”, metastable vacuum with an energy density exceeding that of the vacuum of the
Universe, had been released within a very short time, a tiny fraction of a second following the
Big Bang and realized as the observable energy of the Universe. We will take it that the
process of such an “assimilation” of the energy of the false vacuum and its concurrent
transformation into the energy of the expanding Universe runs incessantly during the course of
the fluctuation-induced origination of Planckian power sources in the neighborhood of the
boundary between the two vacua, namely, the physical and the false vacuum. It should be
assumed at the same time that such a fluctuation arises in the region of the physical vacuum in
accordance with the logic of Sect. 5, but cannot be liberated by virtue of the vanishing of the
⎛ r ⎞
time-like component g 00 ~ ψ (r ) = −⎜1 − Sc ⎟ of interval (18), and the release of energy occurs
⎝ r ⎠
when such a latent excitation comes into contact with the false vacuum. In that case, all of the
liberated energy-mass of the Planckian source must be emitted into the region of the existing
Universe, this being facilitated by the high “affinity” of the material particles being formed to
the QED vacuum, which is characterized by their energy of binding to the latter. It is quite
natural to assume that the entire energy flux of the fluctuation arisen, which is considered as a
Planckian energy-mass source, will be localized within a jet – a cone of certain solid angle βPl.

25
This brings up the natural question: Can a terrestrial observer detect powerful Planckian energy
releases continuously taking place in a randomly distributed fashion along the boundary of our
Universe? And also how high must be the frequency of such Planckian events for a terrestrial
observer to detect them? Obviously the answer to the latter question depends on the
characteristic value of the solid angle βPl, which can vary as a function of the evolution
dynamics of the fluctuation. The magnitude of the angle βPl and its variations will govern both
the average frequency of detection of such events and the characteristic time it will take for the
events being detected to demonstrate with a preset confidence the isotropism of their
distribution over the celestial sphere. Let us obtain the upper-bound estimate for the magnitude
of the angle βPl on the assumption that such fluctuation explosions follow one another with
equal probability throughout the boundary region between the Universe and the “false”
vacuum. We present the condition that the region of a jet with a solid angle of βPl will at least
2 2
touch an arbitrary region of the Universe during an earthday in the form βPlRH N = πRH ,
where N is the number of Planckian bursts per earthday. Considering that the characteristic
duration of each Planckian energy release event is τ ≈ 100 s (see below) and N = 864, we get
the following estimate: βPl ≈ 3.6×10 –3 ≈ 12.5’.
From this standpoint, the only candidate for the Planckian source manifestations being
detected are gamma-ray bursters (GRBs), the most powerful and relatively short-lived gamma
radiation sources in cosmologically distant regions of the observable Universe [77-79]. These
most enigmatic objects in astrophysics, which are being detected once daily on the average,
demonstrate isotropic distribution over the celestial sphere. They are characterized by a wide
spread of gamma-ray burst durations (from a few milliseconds to a few tens of seconds) and
49
spectral compositions (from 1 keV to 10 MeV), as well as integral energy releases (from 10
54
to 10 erg). Sometimes they prove difficult to associate with any galaxy. Frequently one
manages to “tie” them in to remote galaxies, thanks to the detection of long-duration
excitations in these galaxies, sometimes associated with supernova explosions [80]. At the
same time, the probability of detection of supernova explosions accompanied by long-term
relaxation fails to correlate with the power of the GRBs. For example, the powerful GRB
060614 [81], even visible by ground-based telescopes, whose lifetime amounted to 102
seconds, was not attended by any supernova explosion. Optical telescopes detected its
associated light, 100 times fainter than that of the faintest supernovae. At the same time, the
powerful GRB 080 319B caused a strong afterglow of its host galaxy (redshift z = 0.937) [82].
It was the brightest naked-eye object ever seen from our planet. For nearly one minute its
brightness was equivalent to the brightness of 10 million typical galaxies. GRB 080319B had
the true luminosity that was 2.5 million times higher than the one recorded for the most
powerful supernova SN 2005ap [83]. The burst was characterized by an energy release of
54 4
1.3×10 erg (in terms of isotropic energy release) in the band 1–10 keV [82]. The age of the
host galaxy was approximately 7.5 billion years. But no supernova was associated with this
gamma-ray burst. The fact that the energy release and luminosity of GRB 080 319B were
much higher than the ones recorded for the most powerful supernovae imply that the nature of
this burst can differ from that of supernovae.
It should be noted that so powerful energy releases in the gamma range associated with
gamma-ray bursts were observed earlier as well (see, for example, Ref. No. [84]). Also
important to notice is the fact that gamma-ray bursts can occur even in the “darkest” regions of
space, where no stars or galaxies exist. The most illustrative example is GRB 070125 [85].
Although various mechanisms of such phenomena (the death of massive stars at the final stage
of evolution, mergers of compact objects, e.g., a neutron star and a neutron star or a neutron
star and a black hole [77-80]) have been developed to date, the true nature of such objects
remains unclear. Of course, the intriguing factor here is the periodicity of occurrence of
gamma-ray bursts: one event per earthday. It is hard to imagine a process of fusion involving
two stars or a star and a black hole that can occur with such a periodicity in the Universe. It

26
should be borne in mind that the degree of inscrutability of the nature of gamma-ray bursts
grows higher because it is customarily believed that the energy released in such celestial
processes is concentrated in jets (otherwise it would be difficult to comprehend the physical
nature of so powerful energy sources, with the energy issued being isotropic). But since not
nearly all of the jets formed can turn out to be oriented on the Solar system, not nearly all of
the gamma-ray bursts are being detected. For this reason, the number of such events in the
Universe as the fusion of stars must be much greater. But since such large-scale events
associated with the fusion of stars and accompanied by powerful gamma-ray bursts have not
been detected in relatively near regions of the Universe, one is forced to seek alternative
mechanisms underlying the origin of gamma-ray bursts. And certainly the amazing once-a-day
periodicity of such large-scale events in the Universe also seems little-probable for the fusion
of stellar objects to be realized all over the space of the Universe.
From this point of view, the assumption as to the relation between gamma-ray bursts and
the fluctuation dynamics of Planckian energy-mass sources in the region of the outer boundary
between the Universe and the false vacuum seems to be substantiated. The more so since all the
peculiarities of the phenomena that are commonly being associated with gamma-ray bursts,
specifically the excitation of galaxies under the effect of the energy fluxes propagating in the
form of jets from blinking Planckian energy-mass sources, can be qualitatively comprehended on
the basis of this hypothesis. First of all, this is the variation of the duration τPl of the gamma
radiation proper during the course of recording of a gamma-ray burst. The energy fluxes issuing
from Planckian energy-mass sources can either cause general excitation in the galaxies getting in
the region of the corresponding jets [81] or initiate the “ignition” of supernovae [78-80]. The
fluxes of gamma quanta associated with gamma-ray bursts that are being detected by terrestrial
observers naturally depend on the orientation of the energy flow in the Universe. To illustrate, it
can be supposed that the flux of gamma quanta from the source GRB 08319B [82] was
maximally oriented on the Solar system and that the abnormally great duration, τPl ~ 100 s, of the
gamma signal and the gamma radiation power formally calculated when observing this gamma-
ray burst were due exactly to this circumstance. It has been exactly the duration of gamma
release from this source that has conditioned the choice of the value for the quantity τPl when
estimating the characteristic value of the solid angle βPl above. In connection with the hypothesis
being discussed as to the relation between gamma-ray bursters and Planckian energy-mass
sources, of interest might be observations of excitations of spatially separated fragments of
remote galaxies, pointing to influences from extraneous factors, provided that the possibility of
cause-effect relations between such excitations are excluded.
To conclude this section, note that the notions being introduced about local releases of the
energy of false vacuum in the neighborhood of the interface between the “two vacua”, the
physical and the false ones, open up new possibilities of considering gamma bursters as possible
18
sources of the cosmic rays with energies over 10 eV , whose concomitant flow of energetic
neutrinos proves substantially weaker than predicted by the common phenomenological gamma
burster models, the “fireball” models in particular. It was exactly such result that was obtained
by Abbasi and co-workers [86]. These authors reported that the upper limit to the energetic
neutrinos associated with gamma-ray bursts turned out to be lower than predicted by at least a
factor of 3.7.

8. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE QED VACUUM IN NUCLEAR TRANSFORMATIONS

INITIATED BY ELECTRONS IN LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASMA AND IN
RADIOACTIVE DECAY PROCESSES

Shafeev and co-workers [87-90] showed that laser ablation of metals (Au, Ti, Se, etc.)
placed in aqueous solutions could stimulate nuclear synthesis, nuclear transmutation, and
radioactive decay processes. The peak intensity of the laser pulses under such ablation conditions
10 13 2
reached as high a level as 10 –10 W/cm at a pulse duration around 10 ps and a pulse

27
repetition frequency of 50 kHz. The irradiation time usually came to 1 hour. Under the effect of
such pulses the liquid at the liquid-metal interface was vaporized, so that a low-temperature
plasma was formed in the resultant vapor-filled spaces.

8.1. Nuclear processes initiated by electrons

As demonstrated in this section, the cause of the nuclear transformations observed in the above-
mentioned works [87-90] (see also [91]) could be the interaction of electrons with the nuclei that
would initiate a qualitative change in the state of nuclear matter, if the kinetic energy Ee of the
electrons in the plasma being formed reached some 1–5 eV. The fulfillment of this condition in
the experiments [87-91] was found quite conceivable.
The simplest process governed by the interaction of an atomic nucleus with an electron is
the K-capture in proton-rich nuclei, with which one of the orbital electrons in the K shell nearest
–
to the nucleus decays, upon interaction with the latter, into an intermediate vector boson W , as a
–
virtual particle, and a neutrino. Thereafter the boson W interacts with an up (u) quark of one of
the nuclear protons to form a down (d) quark, and the proton converts into a neutron. Now there
arises the question: In what measure electron-nucleus interactions, provided they are initiated by
external factors, can bring about effectual nuclear transformations?
If the original nucleus is nonradioactive (for the sake of definiteness, let it be a deuteron
+
d ) and the kinetic energy Ee of the electron is too low for any nuclear process involving the
breakdown of the original nucleus to take place, the electron-nucleus interaction can result in the
emission of a neutrino ν (an irreversible process!) and formation in the nucleus of an
–
intermediate vector boson W as a virtual particle (the electron cannot directly interact with a
quark). Thereafter there forms a d quark, as a result of interaction between the virtual vector
–
boson W and one of the u quarks of a nuclear proton, and the latter converts into a virtual
neutron. No actual neutron can form in the nucleus. True, if this were the case, the nucleus being
formed would decay, because a two-neutron system is unstable [92]. But for such decay into two
neutrons to take place, the mass of the nucleus being formed, which is equal to the sum of the
masses of the deuteron and electron, is insufficient. (In the case under consideration, the energy
2
deficit ∆Q is (md + me – 2mn)c ≈ –3.01 MeV, where c is the velocity of light in vacuum and mp,
me, and mn are the masses of the proton, electron, and neutron, respectively.) The latter means
that with the formation of a second neutron in the nucleus being impossible, the state of the
nuclear matter here cannot be represented in the standard way, i.e., in the form of combination of
a definite number (two in the given case) neutrons, and described in terms of the well-known
nucleon-nucleon interaction. For this reason, the conclusions drawn in [92] that the existence of
a nuclear stable dineutron is impossible does not relate to the nucleus being introduced here with
its mass less than the total mass of two neutrons, despite its zero electric charge, baryon number
equal to 2, and zero leptonic charge. Actually one should speak in this case about the origination
of a nonstandard, nonstationary, “nonbalanced” state of nuclear matter.
The possibility that a nucleus can be formed in a shake-up state wherein nuclear matter
cannot be described as an aggregate of interacting protons and neutrons is not prohibited by any
law. But when intranuclear matter is formed in such a state, the basic interrelation between the
inner region of the nucleus, as a structurally organized subsystem, and the QED vacuum (see
Sect. 3) must be disturbed. Within the scope of the notions being expounded in Sect 3 about the
role of the QED vacuum in the genesis of nuclear forces and the formation of such conditions at
the boundary of the nucleus as ensure its stability, owing to the Casimir pressure forces, the
unbalancing of nuclear matter in a shake-up state must alter the boundary conditions. Because of
the constant transformation of the inner structure of the nucleus in the shake-up state, one can
expect that the binding of the nucleus to the polarization region of the QED vacuum in its
neighborhood, which is associated with the stable inner state of the nucleus by virtue of
boundary conditions of the 3rd kind, must be disturbed in the nucleus in the shake-up state. For
this reason, it is but natural to assume that when calculating the Casimir forces in the given case,

28
such boundary conditions must be realized as were used previously by Milton and co-workers
[45] in modeling the surface of a nucleus by a metal sphere, which do not provide for such a
binding. According to the calculations made by these authors, the vacuum energy of such a
sphere is positive, and so the Casimir forces will no longer provide for the stability of nuclei. The
latter circumstance means that the natural relaxation of the shake-up state of the nucleus must
terminate with its β-decay – the formation of the original nucleus, involving the emission an
electron e– and an antineutrinoν~ . Thereby one can speak in the given case of the effective
realization of inelastic scattering of an electron on the nucleus, involving the creation of a
neutrino-antineutrino pair, which is quite possible because the magnitude of the kinetic energy
Ee of electrons exceeds the threshold values (~0.3 eV) for the creation of the pair νν~ . For the
sake of definiteness, therefore, we will refer to such a nucleus as β-dineutron and represent the
sequence of the processes being discussed as follows:
e −he + d + →2 n isu + ν~ , (33)
2
n → d + e +ν .
+ − ~ (34)
isu

In these expressions, the subscript “he” on the notation of the initial electron points to the
initiative character of interaction between the electron and deuteron in the formation of the β-
2
dineutron nisu in the in-shake-up state (the latter being indicated by the subscript “isu”).
Inasmuch as the threshold of such an “inelastic scattering” of the electron by the deuteron is
solely determined by the doubled rest mass of the neutrino and amounts to less than 0.5 eV, the
electron kinetic energies of Ee ~ 1 – 5 eV will apparently be adequate for one to observe such
processes. This means that the mass of the β-dineutron practically coincides, as noted above,
with the mass of the deuterium atom. It should also be noted that at low energies actually the
entire internal “organization” of the processes involving quarks and vector bosons, qualitatively
represented above, can only be reflected in the magnitude of the effective gross-interaction
constant. In that case, the characteristic half-life of the β-dineutron, determined by the weak
nuclear interactions, can prove long enough.
When studying nuclear transmutations in [87-90], the laser exposure of metal targets in
aqueous solutions lasted from 1 to 4 hours, and the subsequent nuclear transformations could be
monitored for over a month. With the peak absorbed energy fluxes characteristic of these
10 13 2
experiments being JE ~ 10 –10 W/cm , the liquid in the vicinity of solid metallic target turns
into vapor and gets partially ionized, so that plasma with an elevated temperature and pressure is
formed in the vapor volume [87]. Note also that recorded in these experiments was a
characteristic X-ray radiation with quantum energies of Eγ ~ 10 keV [93]. The mechanisms
considered here for the nuclear transmutations taking place in heavy water include primarily
2
process (33) yielding the β-dineutron nisu and the subsequent reactions proceeding with the
2
participation of nisu. For example, in the case of laser exposure of a suspension of mercury
196
droplets in D2O, where they recorded the transformation (~ 10 %) of the stable isotope Hg (a
197
sample enriched with this isotope up to 55.6 % was used) into the stable isotope Au [87], the
consecutive stages of the process might be represented as follows:
80 Hg + n isu → 80 Hg + n + Q (3.78 MeV) ,
196 2 197
(35)
79 Au + ν + Q (0.6 MeV) .
Hg + e − →197
197
80 (36)
It should be noted that in these experiments the authors recorded by means of the Raman
spectroscopy the formation of the HDO molecules in heavy water that were absent in the original
solution. It might be assumed that the protons appeared in this medium upon the splitting of
deuterons by the neutrons formed in processes (35) proceeding with the participation of various
stable Hg isotopes, this being facilitated by the energy releases exceeding that for reaction (3). In
2 196
particular, the energy release in the interaction between nisu and Hg is Q = 5.02 MeV.

29
 When analyzing the data of [88], where qualitative differences were established in the
232
character of the processes of stimulated transmutation of the Th nuclei between the D2O and
H2O solutions, to understand the whole array of the experimental results obtained, it was also
2
necessary to consider the following ( nisu, n)-processes:
90Th + n isu → 90Th + n + Q (1.78 MeV) ,
232 2 233
(37)
230
90 Th + 2 n isu →231
90Th + n + Q ( 2.11 MeV) . (38)
Similarly comprehended was the partial exclusion of the cesium-137 isotopes from the solution,
observed to take place when the system under study was subjected to laser initiation:
55 Cs + n isu → 55 Cs + n + Q (1.41 MeV) ,
137 2 138
(39)
which allowed the recorded increase of the initially low barium concentration in the solution to
138
be explained as resulting from the β-decay of Cs (T½ = 33.4 min):
~
55 Cs→ 56 Ba + e + ν + Q (5.37 MeV) .
138 138 −
(40)
Obviously for processes (37)–(39) to be realized during the course of laser irradiation (1–4
2
hours), the half-life of the nucleus nisu must be at least commensurable with the above laser
exposure time or, possibly, even exceed it.
Insofar as the products of ordinary nuclear reactions are formed in the basic state of nuclear
matter, not only with a definite combination of neutrons and protons, but also with the maximum
possible for each process binding energy per nucleon (provided that the selection rules for the
initial and final quantum states of the nuclei are satisfied), the formation of β-nuclei in such
processes is excluded practically. It is precisely with this circumstance that one can associate the
excessively low estimate of the cross-section σ for the formation of the nuclear stable dineutron
in the process n + d → 2n + p that is presented in [92], σ < 0.001-0.01 mb, on the basis of
experimental data. The given estimate fully agrees with the result of the experiment [94] wherein
an attempt was made to obtain a dineutron as a result of interaction between cold neutrons and
deuterons: n + d → 2n + p. They obtained σ( n + d → 2n + p) ≤ 1 µb. It should be noted here that
the formally calculated binding energy Edn of the beta-dineutron as a nuclear stable particle with
a baryon number of 2 formed in the above process amounts, digressing from the abnormal state
of its nuclear matter, to 3.01 MeV. At the same time, the cross-sections of the other nuclear
reactions involving few-nucleon systems are greater by a few orders of magnitude. In accordance
with the logic of this work, this low estimate presented for the dineutron formation cross-section
σ should be referred not to the dineutron as a nuclear stable particle, but to the β-dineutron.
The question now arises: Can a β-dineutron be fixed not indirectly, as in the case of laser
ablation of metals, but directly in nuclear-physical processes? The answer apparently consists in
pointing out the processes wherein the quark structure of nucleons must show unambiguously in
one way or another. One can speak here of the repetition of the above-discussed experiments
conducted by scientists from Artsimovich’s group, wherein the interaction of electrons with
deuterons was realized in conditions of electric discharge in deuterium-containing gases. Of
–
undoubted interest are experiments with beams of π mesons. Quite possibly such an experiment
was already performed. The case at hand is the work by [95], wherein subject to measurement at
–
fixed T energies of π mesons were the differential missing-mass (MM) spectra for the process
6 – 5
Li(π , p) H at specified exit angles θ of the protons in the laboratory frame of reference. One
2 –
can assume that the relatively not very large peak of MM ≈ –3 MeV/c at θ = 20° and T(π ) =
125 MeV, clearly seen in the spectrum of Fig. 3 in Ref. [95], is due exactly to the formation of a
β-dineutron, along with tritium. It should be emphasized here that the magnitude of this peak is
more than two orders of magnitude lower than the maximum values of the spectrum measured in
this experiment at MM > 0.
The above-considered processes (35)–(40) of initiation of nuclear transformations under the
effect of laser radiation acting on metallic targets in heavy water afford a ground for one to
assume that the cross-section of the β-dineutron formation process (33) substantially exceeds
30
that for its formation in the nuclear reactions considered in [92]. For this reason, the observation
[96] of the process of nuclear synthesis of tritium as a result of reactions (33) and (41)
d + + 2 n isu → t + + n + Q(3.25 MeV) (41)
during the course of laser ablation of metal surfaces in heavy water can be considered
experimental evidence of the existence of the β-dineutron.
If the parent nucleus ZA N is radioactive (here Z and A stand for the number of protons and
the total number of nucleons, respectively), the β-decay of the nucleus Z −A1 N isu formed in the in-
shake-up state as a result of the inelastic interaction of the parent nucleus with an electron can
initiate the radioactive decay specific to the parent nucleus as well. It is exactly such decay
dynamics of the 238 92 U ,
232
90Th , and
137
55 Cs nuclei entering into the composition of the salts

dissolved in heavy and ordinary water that is realized under the effect of intense laser radiation
acting on the metal platelets formed as a result of the laser ablation of metal surfaces in the
above solutions [87-90]. The acceleration of the decay of a radioactive nucleus as a consequence
of the initiative effect of an electron thereon, followed by the emission of an electron, can be
–
considered an “e -catalysis” of sorts [97]. For example, the initiative interaction between an
238 –
electron and the U nucleus, followed by the emission of an electron, by the “e -catalysis”
mechanism takes place during the formation of a “β-protactinium” in accordance with the
reaction
~
92 U + e he → 91Pa isu + ν → 90Th + 2 He + e + ν + ν + Q ( 4.27 MeV) .
238 − 238 234 4 −
(42)
Recorded in conditions of the experiments [89, 90] was the dynamics of appearance
238 214
(during 2 hours) of the decay products of U and formation of the isotope Pb as a result of a
238
series of consecutive nuclear decays, starting with the decay of U, and violation of the secular
234
equilibrium of Th. In that case, from 10 to 50 % of the 238 92 U nuclei contained in the solution
214
could get decayed [89]. From among the radioactive isotopes preceding Pb, one should point
234 230 5 4
out U and Th whose half-lives under natural conditions come to 2.45×10 and 7.7×10
years, respectively. The gross-process characterizing the entire sequence of transformations from
238 214
the decay of U to the formation of Pb and involving emission of six α-particles may
schematically be represented in the form
~
82 Pb + 6⋅2 He + 2e + ν + 3ν + Q (31.92 MeV)
−
92 U ⎯⎯→
238 214 4
e−
(43)
he

(presented here is a shorter expression using the symbol e −he beneath the arrow).
–
It is but natural to assume that the “e -catalysis” mechanism can be realized upon the
initiation of the β-decay of nuclei as well. Therefore, the problem of the “burnout” of the most
dangerous β-radioactive nuclei (e.g., 90 131 137
38 Sr , 53 I , and 55 Cs ) can be associated not only with the
–
processes like (39), but also directly with the “e -catalysis”:
~
39Y + e + ν + 2ν + Q (0.546 MeV) ,
−
38 Sr ⎯⎯→
90 90
e −he
(44)
131
I ⎯⎯→131 Xe + e − + ν + 2ν~ + Q(0.97 MeV) ,
53 e −he 54 (45)
~
56 Ba + e + ν + 2ν + Q (1.17 MeV) .
−
137
55 Cs ⎯⎯→
e−
137
(46)
he

It is assumed that processes (44), (45), and (46) proceed via formation of the intermediate
90
nuclei in the shake-up state, 37 Rb sh-u , 131 137
52Te sh -u , and 54 Xesh -u , respectively. In these cases, the

deficits ∆Q in the structural energy, which these nuclei in the shake-up state need for them to
90
form the basic state of nuclear matter typical of the nuclei 37 Rb, 131 137
52Te, and 54 Xe , amount to –

6.59 MeV, –2.23 MeV, and –4.17 MeV, respectively, for processes (44)-(46). The laser ablation
process can therefore be expected to have the most pronounced accelerating effect on radioactive
decay (44).

31
 Of certain interest within the scope of the notions being expounded would be studies into the
–
double β -decay as a most uncommon type of radioactive decay. In all cases where this type of
18
decay was reliably established, the half-lives came to more than 10 years, which is a few orders
of magnitude longer than the age of the Universe [98]. The main problems facing investigators
–
concerned with the double β -decay are associated with the low probability of the event and the
need to conduct long-term experiments, minimize background events, and thoroughly analyze
the experimental results. From among the 31 pairs of even-even isotopes that can be bound by
–
the double β -decay, such decays have so far been experimentally detected in 10 cases only, and
+
from among the same number of even-even isotopes that can be bound by the double β -decay,
–
no such process has as yet been observed. The double e -capture was discovered for the isotope
130 –
Ba. One can suppose that such processes could be realized under e -catalysis conditions;
specifically the processes
74W + e he → 73Ta isu + ν → 72 Os + 3e + 2ν + ν + Q (0.49 MeV ) ∆Q = − 3.9 MeV
186 - 186 186 - ~
and
50 Sn + e he → 49 In isu + ν → 48 Cd + 2 β + e + 3ν + Q (1.92 MeV ) ∆Q = − 0.66 MeV.
112 - 112 112 + -

8.2. “Cold synthesis” processes initiated by electrons

The notions being expounded here about the interaction of electrons with atomic nuclei can help
one gain an insight into the possible reasons for the irreproducibility at various laboratories of
the results of the work by Fleishman and co-workers [99] concerning the realization of
thermonuclear reactions involving the formation of neutrons and tritium nuclei during heavy
water electrolysis with a palladium cathode, wherein an excess heat liberation took place. In
electrolysis processes, the kinetic energy Ee of the electrons interacting with the deuterium nuclei
of heavy water cannot be controlled, the more so as the magnitude of Ee necessary for such
processes effectively to manifest themselves must noticeably exceed the aforementioned
threshold of inelastic scattering of electrons by the nuclei. As noted earlier, the electron kinetic
energy Ee must be characterized by the chemically high enough values, Ee ~ 5 eV. Specifically,
this means that the efficiency of nuclear processes occurring during the course of heavy water
electrolysis can depend on the character of roughness of the electrode surfaces on a nanometer
scale, the “spikiness” parameters [100, 101] in particular. Indeed, it is precisely in the regions of
the sharpest surface relief alterations that high electric field strengths making for the acceleration
of electrons and high mechanical tensile stresses depressing the activation barriers for
electrochemical processes can both get realized.
Therefore, the situation with the realization of cold synthesis processes proves to be more
unambiguous in conditions of low-temperature plasma, as was the case with [87-91], or high-
current glow discharge. In the latter case, the most interesting results were obtained in [102, 103]
with gas-discharge chambers using a Pd cathode. The pressure of the working gases (D2, Xe, Kr)
in the chamber usually amounted to 3–10 Torr, and the discharge current density was around 10–
2
50 mA/cm . In such systems, there took place, as in [87-90], the generation of X-ray radiation
with a quantum energy of Eγ ~ 0.5–10 keV, which suggests that in conditions of these
experiments there were generated electrons with an energy sufficient for the electron-nucleus
interaction processes being described to be realized. When the cathode gets saturated with
deuterium, the [D]/[Pd] ratio approaches 1. The experiments lasted from 1 to 40 hours. The
nuclear transformations took place at the surface and within the bulk of the cathode as well as on
its surface. To detect the elements that were initially contained and newly formed in the cathode,
use was made of a wide range of methods. Specifically, Savvatimova and Gavritenkov [102]
used alpha-, beta-, and gamma-spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS),
sputtered neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS), spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS), thermal
ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray

32
spectral analysis (EDX), radiography, and scanning electron microscopy. These techniques
allowed the concentrations of impurity elements in the original Pd cathode samples to be
–3 –4
controlled accurate to within 10 –10 at. %. The use of the electron microscopy, EDX, and
radiography techniques for cathode surface analyses allowed the above authors to reveal that
nuclear transformations occurred unevenly within the bulk of the electrode, so that cathode
surface areas could be singled out beneath which such transformations ran most intensely.
Perhaps such cathode surface areas featured elevated nanometer-scale “spikiness” parameters.
The main result of the works by Savvatimova and Gavritenkov [102] and Karabutov
[103] was the detection of increased concentrations of impurity elements on the surface of the
discharge-exposed Pd cathode, compared to their concentrations in Pd prior to the discharge. In
particular [102], the concentrations of the elements 73 Li, 4822Ti, 4922Ti, 5123V, 24
53
Cr, 90 91
40 Zr, and 40 Zr on

the surface of the cathode following its 4-hours’ glow-discharge exposure in deuterium rose by
450, 414, 523, 100, 160, 500, and 1000 times, respectively, the concentrations of
57 61 63 107 109
26 Fe, 28 Ni, 29 Cu, 47 Ag, and 47 Ag increasing by the respective 4, 50, 43, 63, and 50 times. But

whereas the concentration of 115 B increased 70-fold, that of 105 B remained unchanged. Found on
the Pd cathode surface were also the elements Br, Sr, Y, Tc, and others that were absent in Pd
prior to its glow-discharge exposure. We will abstain here from dwelling upon the entire
manifold of aspects of the work by Savvatimova and Gavritenkov [102], including the
relationships between the amount of the newly formed elements and the cathode exposure time,
the localization of the elements within the bulk of the cathode, discharge current density, gas
mixture composition, etc. We will only point out that the above-expounded notion about the
–
initiation of nuclear synthesis processes under “e -catalysis” conditions allow the mechanisms
underlying the cold synthesis of various elements in conditions of the experiments [102, 103] to
be qualitatively understood.
Each of the nuclear transformations under consideration starts with process (33)
2
describing the formation of the β-dineutron nisu characterized by a sufficiently long half-life.
2
The subsequent interactions of nisu with Pd nuclei or the nuclei of other elements, N,
~
Z N + n isu → Z N isu → Z − Z 1 N + Z 1 +1 N + e + ν + Q1 ,
A 2 A+ 2 A − A1 + 2 A1 −
(47)
A
Z N + 2 n → A + 2N → A − A1 +1N + A1 N + n + e − + ν~ + Q ,
isu Z isu Z − Z1 Z 1 +1 2 (47a)
A − A2 + 2
A
Z N + n isu →
2
Z −Z2 N + N + Q3 ,
A2
Z2 (48)
or specifically
A +1
Z N + n isu → Z N + n + Q4 ,
A 2
(48а)
can lead to the observed diversity of the elements being synthesized, provided that the mass
defects Qi of the relevant processes are positive. For example, let us write down the Pd-
associated nuclear reactions yielding 105 B and 115 B to clarify the reasons for the low probability of
10
5 B:
~
42 Mo + e + ν + Q (1.57 MeV ) ,
−
102
46 Pd + 2 n isu →105 B + 94
104
46 Pd + 2 n →10 B + 96 Mo + e − + ν~ + Q(0.485 MeV) .
isu 5 42
104
It should at once be noted that the percentage χ of the isotopes 102Pd and Pd in native
110
palladium is 12.16 %. At the same time, all stable palladium isotopes, except for Pd, whose
total percentage is χ = 88.28 % can participate, with noticeable heat liberation, in the
11 102 104 105
5 B synthesis reactions. In the reactions with the participation of the isotopes Pd, Pd, Pd,
106 108 93 95 96 97 99
Pd, and Pd in the formation of the isotopes Mo, Mo, Mo, Mo, and Mo, the Qi
values are 3.35, 2.78, 4.85, 2.1, and 0.91 MeV, respectively. It can be assumed that it is exactly
for the reasons stated above (an order of magnitude lower percentage of the parent Pd isotopes

33
and comparatively low energy releases) that no formation of the isotope 105 B was recorded in the
experiments [102], the capabilities of the instruments used being what they were.
Apparently the most fundamental result of the work by Savvatimova and Gavritenkov [102] is
the detection of the respective 63- and 50-fold increase in the concentration of the 10747 Ag and
109
47Ag impurity atoms in the palladium cathode following its 30-minutes’ high-current glow
discharge exposure in deuterium. While all of the preceding processes under discussion could be
considered as a stimulated fission of palladium nuclei into nuclei of smaller mass, the very fact
of formation of the elements Ag directly points to the “cold synthesis” of the elements wherein
the number of protons exceeds that in the parent Pd atom, which is impossible by the current
theory of nuclear synthesis in the Universe [60]. According to the general scheme (47)-(48), the
synthesis of the above elements may be represented as follows:
~
46 Pd + n isu → 47 Ag + e + ν + Q (13.12 MeV) ,
105 2 107 −

108
46 Pd + 2 n →109 Ag + n + e − + ν~ + Q(4.26 MeV)
isu 47

Special emphasis was placed in [103] on the formation of the isotopes 42 He and 23 He in
conditions of high-current glow discharge. In accordance with the ideas being expounded, the
main formation channel of 42 He must be associated with the process
d + + 2 n isu →42 He2 + + e − + ν~ + Q(20.6 MeV) . (49)
–
The isotope 23 He can be produced during the course of stimulated (“e -catalysis”) fission of the
+
tritium nucleus, t :
~
t + ⎯⎯→ 2 He + e + ν + Q (0.019 MeV) ,
3 −
e−
(50)
he

tritium being formed as a result of the reaction (41).

It is exactly with the formation of 42 He that the main contribution to heat liberation in the
2
process under study is associated in [103], a 5W/cm excess heat flux being recorded at a 150-%
process efficiency with the experimental setup designed in this work. The analysis performed
allowed suggesting that the actual heat liberation was due to the complete set of the nuclear
transformations occurring in the setup.
In connection with the works by Savvatimova and Gavritenkov [102] and Karabut [103],
it is appropriate to recall the pioneering investigations conducted in the fifties of the past century
into the processes taking place in high-power electric discharges in tubes containing mixtures of
deuterium with inert gases. It was then that scientists from Artsimovich’s group found out that at
deuterium partial pressures of up to a few tens of torrs and applied voltages of a few tens of
kilovolts there took place at the center of the discharge tube simultaneous generation of short
pulses of neutrons and hard X-ray quanta 300–400 keV in energy [104]. The neutron radiation
8
intensity recorded at a discharge current of 200 kA amounted to 10 neutrons per pulse, the
voltage applied across the discharge tube at the instant neutrons of this high energy emerged
being around a mere 10 kV. The neutron indicator in these experiments was the radioactivity
induced in a silver target embedded in a paraffin block placed near the discharge tube. The
neutron flux was calculated on the basis of the data on the formation of the radioactive isotopes
108 110
Ag and Ag in the target. According to Trubnikov [105], the generation of neutrons in such
processes is governed by the nuclear reaction d + d = 3He + n that is realized not because of a
high temperature of the plasma, but owing to the development of a waist-type instability in the
pinch. Such waists can eventually cause the pinch to break and give rise to an induction field
accelerating deuterons to energies around 1 MeV, more than sufficient for the given process.
Nevertheless, in connection with the mechanism suggested, it remains unclear why no similar
3
He flows were detected concurrently with the neutron flows. It is well known that the
subsequent searches for controlled production of thermonuclear power have pursued a different

34
line of investigation associated with the attempts magnetically to confine high-temperature
plasma and the development of tokamaks [106].
In connection with what has been stated above, it is but natural to suppose that it was
2
fluxes of the β-dineutrons nisu (which could be taken for neutrons) that were generated in
2 107
conditions of the experiments [104] by virtue of the ( nisu, n) processes involving the Ag and
109
Ag nuclei of the detector target:
47 Ag + n isu → 47 Ag + n + Q ( 4.26 MeV) ,
107 2 108

Ag + 2 n isu →110
109
47 47 Ag + n + Q (3.8 MeV) ,
107
47 Ag + n → Cd + e − + ν~ + Q(13.24 MeV) ,
2 109
isu 48

Ag + n isu → Cd + e − + ν~ + Q(13.67 MeV) ,

109
47
2 111
48

It would certainly be interesting to repeat the experiments [104], considering the new
possibilities [102, 103] for detecting the rare impurities being formed in detector targets. This
would allow one not only directly to satisfy oneself of the adequacy of the idea being expounded
as to the essence of the β-dineutron as a long-lived radioactive nucleus, but also more reasonably
to approach the solution of the technical questions of thermonuclear energy uses raised by the
2
hypothesis suggested about the existence of the β-dineutron nisu.

8.3. “Cold synthesis” in Astrophysics

The approach presented above to the analysis of the cold synthesis processes occurring in
conditions of laser initiation, or in conditions of high-current glow discharge, based on the
–
concept of “e -catalysis” in the course of interaction between electrons and nuclei, fails to “fit
in” with the current notions about the synthesis of elements in the Universe. According to these
notions (see, e.g., [60]), the first stage in the synthesis of elements in the Universe is being
associated with the first three minutes following the Big Bang, when the first group of light
3 4 7
elements – H, D, He, He, and Li – were formed. (Versions with the additional synthesis of
9 11
Be and B are sometimes being discussed.) The second stage of the synthesis of elements,
which started with the appearance of the first stars and has been continuing until the present day,
comprises nuclear reactions of the elements within stars, as a result of which the elements in the
Periodic Table up to iron were and are being formed. The further synthesis of more complex
nuclei becomes impossible, because the iron nucleus has the highest binding energy per nucleon
(around 8 MeV). And the third stage in the synthesis of elements is associated with supernova
explosions (each supernova explosion lasts about a second). Born in Type I supernova
explosions are the elements from Si to Fe (the relative amount of the elements from O to Mg
changes in this case but little), and it is only during the explosions of the more massive Type II
supernovae that the elements are being formed whose masses exceed the mass of the iron
nucleus. The decisive role in such processes is being attributed to the (n, γ) reactions and β-
decays. The neutrons necessary for such reactions to proceed are formed in the reactions
10 Ne(α , n) 12 Mg and 6 C(α , n) 8 O . And if the lifetime of a nucleus after the capture of a neutron
22 25 13 16

prior to the subsequent neutron capture is much longer than its lifetime until its β-decay, such a
process is then referred to as slow (s-process). But in conditions of high neutron density a
nucleus has enough time to catch several neutrons before suffering β-decay, and such a process
is then called rapid (r-process). There exists a third type of nuclear processes (p-process), with
which neutron-poor nuclei are formed, the (p, n) or (γ, n) reactions in particular.
It is natural to assume that the processes (47)-(47a) and (48)-(48a) whose realization
requires no high stellar temperatures, can be realized, especially in stellar atmospheres where the
temperature is not as great as in the volumes stars. Moreover, reaction (48a) can be considered as
a certain generalization of s-processes, and reactions (47) and (47a), as a generalization of r- and
p-processes. Of course, a comprehensive analysis of the processes occurring in stars should
cover both the possibility of the electron activation of the single-nucleon system – the proton:

35
 p + + e − → n isu + ν , (51)
and the formation of the activated state – the “trineutron”:
t + + e − →3 n isu + ν , (52)
whose half-life must be much shorter than that of the tritium nucleus – the triton – yet long
enough for it to participate in the nuclear synthesis processes taking place within stars.
To illustrate, we present below possible processes of formation of stable isotopes of light
elements (from 63 Li to 126 C ) and the first elements more massive than iron:
2
4
He+ 2 n →6 Li + e − + ν~ + Q(1.47 MeV) ,
isu 3
4
2 He+ n isu → Li + e − + ν~ + Q (2.47 MeV) ,
3 7
3
7
3 Li+ 2 n →9 Be + e − + ν~ + Q(16.69 MeV) ,
isu 4

Be + n isu →105 B + e − + ν~ + Q(7.36 MeV) ,

9
4
9
4 Be+ 2 n →11 B + e − + ν~ + Q(17.81 MeV) ,
isu 5
10
5B+ n isu → C + e − + ν~ + Q (25.18 MeV) ,
2 12
6
57
26 Fe+ 2 n →59 Co + e − + ν~ + Q(15.18 MeV) ,
isu 27
~
28 Ni + e + ν + Q (10.31 MeV) ,
−
59
27 Co + n isu →60
Co + 2 n isu →60
59
27 28 Ni + n + Q (7.31 MeV)
59
27 Co+ n → Ni + e − + ν~ + Q(15.12 MeV) ,
2 61
isu 28
62
28 Ni + n isu →29
63
Cu + e − + ν~ + Q(6.12 MeV) .
–
Of course, to substantiate the applicability of the “e -catalysis” concept expounded in this
work to the description of the synthesis of elements in stellar systems, requires that a
comprehensive analysis should be made of the entire array of the relevant data available in the
literature. Specifically, this can include the data on the dynamics of short-term changes in the
relative percentage of various elements, as well as those on changes in the isotope composition
of elements in the atmospheres of stars accessible for such an analysis, our Sun in the first place.
It is precisely the analysis of such temporal variations recorded in the Sun’s atmosphere during
powerful solar flares [107, 108] that could form the basis for studying the dynamic phenomena
occurring in the atmospheres of the most active solar systems.
Expounded in this Section are notions of inelastic interaction between low-energy
electrons (~ 5 eV) and nuclei, as a result of which β-radioactive nuclei (“β-nuclei”) are formed,
wherein the state of nuclear matter cannot be represented in the fundamental (standard) fashion,
i.e., in the form of a combination of a certain number of nucleons, and described by the well-
known nucleon-nucleon interaction. It would be of interest to investigate the electronic spectra of
nuclei with sufficiently long-lived β-nuclei, wherein the state of nuclear matter is unstable. For
such spectra, one could have expected the emergence of anomalies in the hyperfine structure that
results from electron-nucleus interactions. The simplest of “β-nuclei” is the β-dineutron formed
as a result of interaction between an electron and a deuteron involving the emission of a neutrino.
Based on these notions, we managed to explain the physical essence of nuclear transmutations
and accelerated decay of radioactive nuclei under the effect of external laser action on metallic
targets in appropriate solutions, as well as that of the processes of “cold synthesis” of light and
heavy nuclei in conditions of high-current glow discharge. Of certain interest can be
investigations into the interactions of various nuclei not only with the β-dineutron, but also with
heavier β-nuclei, specifically in connection with the search for ways to synthesize new
transuranium elements. The prospects for pursuing these avenues of investigation in nuclear
chemistry of “high energy” (in sense of chemical scales) can primarily be associated with the
development of thermonuclear power and means to ensure safety in nuclear technologies.

36
9. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The main objective of this investigation was to establish the possibility of considering the
physical vacuum as a unified system governing the processes taking place in the micro- and the
macroworld, which manifests itself on all space-time scales, from subnuclear to cosmological.
The physical vacuum appears in this case as a substance that unites and forms all the known
types of interaction – strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational. The notions developed
here made it possible to qualitatively resolve some of the debatable problems of the standard
theory of the dynamics of the Universe and also to pose a number of fundamental questions
concerning the physical essence of nuclear forces and gravitational interactions.
The approaches suggested in this work to the solution of urgent astrophysical problems
are actually a further development of the steady state theory of the expanding Universe [109-
112], according to which fresh matter is being constantly created during the course of this
expansion. In contrast to the models suggested in the above works, the phenomenological
Planckian source model under consideration has to do with the generation of not only the
baryonic component of matter, but also of the entire energy of the Universe, including “dark
energy”. Moreover, since it is assumed that the Planckian source had originated as the final
phase of the inflationary stage of the Big Bang, it had been exactly the action of such a source at
the early stages of evolution, characterized by the formation of a homogeneous and superdense
Universe with the “hottest” photons, that had to cause generation of the cosmic microwave
background (“relict”) radiation detected in our epoch, which reflects the history of cooling of the
highest-energy “primary” photons [113]. It should be noted that it were precisely the difficulties
encountered in analyzing fluctuations of the relict radiation within the framework of the “steady
state” model, as well as the impossibility to comprehend the above-discussed differences in
specific energy density between energy sources originated at the early and the subsequent stages
of the evolution of the Universe. Just these arguments were the reason behind the non-acceptance
of the models [109-112] providing for energy-mass generation. It can be assumed that the
Plnackian source model suggested in this work, which clears up the above-mentioned
difficulties, will allow the very idea that energy-mass is being constantly introduced into the
evolving Universe to be somewhat “rehabilitated”.
From this standpoint, it would be of interest to present quantitative comparisons between
the corollaries of the given phenomenological model and the results of the latest investigations
[114, 115] into the specific features of “compact” massive galaxies formed at the early stages of
the evolution of the Universe, up to 3 billions of years following the Big Bang. Wel and co-
workers [114] analyzed 14 such compact galaxies containing approximately the same number of
stars as the completely formed galaxies in the “more recent” regions of the Universe. However,
the sizes of the compact galaxies were four-five times smaller, and their densities, tens of times
higher than those of their present-day counterparts. The investigators’ attention was paid to the
principal difference between the disk-type shape of the compact galaxies and the spherical shape
of the “present-day” galaxies of the same great masses. And while the speed of rotation of the
Sun about the center of our galaxy is 230 km/s, the corresponding estimates for the “rotating
disks” of the compact galaxies yield 700 km/s. Questions naturally arise as to the reasons for
such cardinal differences in structure and dynamics between galaxies of approximately the same
mass, but formed in different epochs of the evolution of the Universe. It would also be of interest
to perform computer simulations of the processes of formation of stars and galaxies in conditions
of continuous production of energy-mass by the Planckian source, with phenomenological
consideration being made for the temporal changes of the world constants in different epochs of
evolution of the Universe in accordance with relations (28).
It is the author’s opinion that the further search for the possibilities of obtaining direct
experimental information on the magnitudes of the world constants and those of the various
energy density components of the Universe at different values of the red shift z can be
considered as one of the cosmological problems of current importance. Such information could

37
have been obtained from direct measurements of the Lamb shift [2, 116] in atomic hydrogen
spectra in remote galaxies [115, 117, 118], because the energy difference δE between the 2S1/2
and 2P1/2 states of the hydrogen atom, due to quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic
component of the physical vacuum, proves dependent, considering relations (28) and (31), on H:
1
⎛H ⎞ 9
δE = 0.41α ⋅ mec = δE0 ⋅ ⎜ 0 ⎟ ,
5
e
2
(53)
⎝H ⎠
where δE0 is the magnitude of the Lamb shift in our epoch (corresponds to a frequency of 1050
MHz). It should also be noted that the analysis of such effects in galaxies observed at various
values of H = H(z) could have also made it possible to find out how much are the above-
introduced relations (28) justified.
Another possibility to check on the adequacy of the corollaries of the phenomenological
model of the dynamics of the Universe being developed could be provided by the analysis of
the gravitational redshift of light from clusters of galaxies, an effect separate from the
cosmological redshift, which is caused by the expansion of the Universe [119, 120]. Wojtak,
Hansen and Hjorth [119] have successfully tested Albert Einstein‘s theory of gravity on cosmic
scales of the order of 1–10 megaparsecs. The study of the gravitational redshift from clusters of
distant galaxies, for example, localized at redshifts of z ~ 1 and more, would allow one to
ascertain whether the world constants vary on cosmological scales.
The objective of any phenomenological approach it is to unite the variety of the
experimental information available and represent the interrelations revealed in the form of
expressions of definite physical meaning involving physically comprehensible parameters that
can be determined experimentally. The phenomenological relationships and parameters being
introduced can form the basis for constructing physical models of the various manifestations of
the dynamics of the Universe.
Of course, the main mystery of the Universe is still its base medium – the QED-
vacuum, and the accumulation of fresh information about its manifestations is a high-priority
task. A possible avenue of inquiry along these lines can also be associated with the realization
of the results of the experiments tracing back to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment and
the analysis of the Bell-Léger inequalities [20-25] concerned with the verification of the
fundamental principles of quantum mechanics (Sec. 2). It can be assumed that the further
experiments would make it possible to add fresh arguments to the comprehension of the
physical essence of the QED-vacuum and go over to a “finer” level of phenomenology than
that considered in this work, with model representations making concrete the various
manifestations of such a vacuum being introduced.
It should be pointed out that the practical interest in gaining an understanding of the
nature of nonlocal (entanglement) correlations is due, first of all, to the quantum computer
projects. It is precisely the entanglement phenomenon and the possibility of representing the
wave function of a particle with a spin of 1/2 as a superposition of two states with different spin
projections that formed the basis for the introduction of the q-bit (qubit ≡ quantum bit) – the
smallest element to store information in a quantum computer – and the entangled q-bit pair (e-
bit) – the quantum bit of an entangled state [22, p. 127]. The possibility of existence of an
entangled system of three quantum states (the qutrit) in conditions of nonlocality of interaction
was experimentally proved [121, 122]. Of course, to speed up computations on this basis [123,
124], it is necessary to overcome technical difficulties associated with the development of the
storage cell proper materialized, for example, in the form of a small cluster of atoms in a solid-
phase matrix or a single atom in a QED cavity, and the storage cell must, at that, be formed as a
unified system of “entangled” electrons. When each quantum computation step is executed in
electronic or optical data processing systems, individual references are made to such cells, so
that there takes place a concurrent and consistent (concerted [125, 126]) fixation of a single
dedicated quantum state of the system in accordance with the given computational procedure,
which must be accompanied by a certain local rearrangement of some fragments of the cluster.

38
For this reason, it is only the control over the conformational state of q-bits and q-bit ensembles
[123, 124] in conditions of inevitable thermal fluctuations in the quantum computer that can help
resolve the problems of conservation of the quantum state of each individual system of entangled
electrons.
Of interest from this standpoint is the well-known phenomenon – the quantum Zeno
paradox [127-132], which consists in that the relaxation of the state of a quantum system, fixed
in a measurement, slows down as the frequency of measurements of this state is increased. The
very fact of measurement in quantum mechanics usually means the fixation of one of the
possible states of a quantum system. As stressed above, in the measuring system there must
inevitably take place irreversible changes associated with slight local variations in the
conformation of cluster fragments in the neighborhood of the sensing element fixing the
measurement event. Such variations must, naturally, be accompanied by the appropriate
trimming of the boundary conditions for the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum
in the vicinity of these fragments. It can be assumed that it is exactly such trimming of the
physical vacuum and the accompanying variation of the Casimir force realized in the vicinity of
the sensing element that present the factor responsible for the stabilization of the newly
originated state of the matrix and the quantum Zeno effect.
In favor of such notions are the data of the work [131] (see also [132]) concerned with
investigation into the thermal loss taking place in successive measurements of the state of a
single atom forming an entangled two-level state (a q-bit) with the resonance field of photons in
an optical cavity. Indeed, the thermal loss occurring in the “instrument” in conditions of this
experiment decreased with each consecutive measurement down to the minimum value
determined by the quantum-mechanical uncertainty. In that case, of course, the influence of the
object being measured on the instrument during the course of such measurements must be weak
enough in order that the acquisition of mixed information on two or more states of the system
under study should be, a fortiori, excluded.
Also evident is the fact that as the number of q-bits and the corresponding conformational
rearrangements involved in the functioning of the storage cells of a quantum computer is
increased, the noise component of the signal in each informational q-bit ensemble grows higher.
Therefore, to obtain definite values of the switching time of such ensembles (or the time of
measuring the q-bit states) and stabilize the operation of the quantum computer, it is necessary to
limit the number of atoms in the cluster as much as the available equipment is capable of.
Problems also arise in obtaining quantitative characteristics of the conformational
rearrangements of small groups of atoms that take place in a classical macroscopic system during
the course of quantum-mechanical measurements or functioning of the storage cells of a
quantum computer. Possibilities of extracting such information can be associated with the use of
the flicker-noise spectroscopy technique [133, 134]. This analysis actually opens up a new
knowledge of the manifestations of the base energetic component of our Universe – the
electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum.

The author is grateful to Dr. J. Botha for valuable discussions that initiated this
investigation, and also to L.D. Blokhintsev and V.I. Muromtsev for debates about nuclear
physics problems.

REFERENCES

1. Dirac P.A.M. Principles of Quantum Mechanics. Oxford University Press. 1982. 4th Edition.
314 p.
2. G.W. Erickson. Improved Lamb-shift calculation for all values of Z // Phys. Rev. Lett. 1971.
V. 27. P. 780-783.
3. Klimchitskaya G.L., Mohideen U., Mostepanenko V.M. The Casimir force between real
materials: experiment and theory // Rev Mod. Phys. 2009. V. 81. P. 1827-1885.

39
4. Mostepanenko V.M., Trunov N.N. The Casimir effect and its applications // Physics –
Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 1988. V. 31. N 3. P. 965–987.
5. C. Beck, M.C. Mackey. Zeropoint fluctuations and dark energy in Josephson junctions //
Fluctuation and Noise Letters. 2007. V. 7. No. 2. P. C27-C35.
6. Bettini A. Introduction to elementary particle Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. 2008, 431 p.
7. Rubakov V.A. Hierarchies of fundamental constants (to items Nos 16, 17, and 27 from
Ginzburg’s list) // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 2007. V. 50. N 4. P. 390–
396.
8. Lukash V.N., Rubakov V.A. Dark energy: myths and reality // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances
in Physical Sciences. 2008. V. 51. N 3. P. 283–289.
9. Sahni V. Dark matter and dark energy // Lect. Notes Phys. 2004. V. 653. P. 141-180;
arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403324v3.
10. Chernin A.D. Dark energy and universal antigravitation // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in
Physical Sciences. 2008. V. 51. N 3. P. 253–282.
11. Padmanabhan T. Darker side of the Universe. 29 International Cosmic Ray Conference Pune.
2005. V. 10. P. 47-62.
12. T. Reichhardt. Cosmologists look forward to clear picture // Nature. 2003. V. 421. P. 777.
13. Zel’dovich Ya.B. Vacuum theory: a possible solution to the singularity problem of
cosmology // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 1981. V. 24. N 3. P. 216–230.
14. Okun’ L.B. The Einstein formula: E0 = mc2. Is not the Lord laughing? // Physics – Uspekhi.
Advances in Physical Sciences. 2008. V. 51. N 5. P. 513–527.
15. Feynman R.P., Leighton R.B., Sands M. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Vol. 1:
Mechanics. Heat. Radiation. Chap. 15, § 9. Addison Wesley Reading Mass. 1966.
16. Weinberg S. Cosmology. Oxford: University Press. 2008, 593 p.
17. Timashev S.F. The Plank energy-mass source as an alternative to the Big Bang.
http://arXiv.org/abs/0803.0231v2.
18. Burlankov D.E. Time, space, gravity. Moscow-Izhevsk: NIC “Regular and Chaotic
Dynamics”. 2006. 420 p. (in Russian)
19. Landau L.D., and Lifshitz E.M., The Classic Theory of Fields (Butterworth-Heinemann,
Oxford, 4th Ed., 1975).
20. Einstein A., Podolsky B., Rosen N. Can quantum-mechanical description of physical
reality be considered complete? // Phys. Rev. 1935. V. 47. P. 777-780.
21. Bell J.S. On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox // Physics. 1964. V. 1. P. 195-200.
22. B. B. Kadomtsev, Dynamics and information (Editorial office “Physics – Uspekhi”,
Moscow, 1997).
23. Gröblacher S., et al An experimental test of non-local realism // Nature. 2007. V. 446. P.
871-875.
24. Aspect A. To be or not to be local // Nature. 2007. V. 446. P. 866-867.
25. Salart D., et al Testing the speed of “spooky action at a distance”. Nature. 2008. V. 454. P.
861-864.
26. Weizsäcker C.F. von. Time – Empirical Mathematics – Quantum Theory // Time,
Temporality, Now. Experiencing Time and Concept of Time in an Interdisciplinary Perspective /
Editors: Harald Atmanspacher, Eva Ruhnau. – Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag,
1997. P.91-104.
27. Silverman A. Resolution of a cosmological paradox using concepts from general relativity
theory// Amer. J. Phys. 1986. V. 54. N 12. P. 1092-1096.
28. Davis T.M., Lineweaver C.H., Webb J.K. Solutions to the tethered galaxy problem in an
expanding universe and the observation of receding blueshifted object // Amer. J. Phys. 2003. V.
71. N 4. P. 358-364.
29. Timashev S.F. On the microscopic origin of the Second Law // Quantum Limits to the
Second Law. First International Conference on Quantum Limits to the Second Law. AIP

40
Conference Proceedings: V. 643 / Editor Daniel P. Sheehan. – Melville, New York: American
Institute of Physics, 2002. – P. 367-372.
30. Thomson J.J. On relation between matter and ether in accordance with the novel researches
in the electricity. The speech given on the 4th of November 1907 at Manchester University. In:
Ether and matter. Moscow: URSS. 2004. P. 71-92. (in Russian).
31. Ovchinnikov A.A., Timashev S.F., and Belyy A. A. Kinetics of Diffusion Controlled
Chemical Processes (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 1989), 239 pp.
32. Timashev S.F., Polyakov Yu.S., Misurkin P.I., Lakeev S.G. Anomalous diffusion as a
stochastic component in the dynamics of complex processes // Physical Rev. E. 2010. V. 81. No
4. P. 041128-1-17; http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.0235
33. Brooks D.W.C., Botter T, Schreppler S. Non-clqssic light generated by quantum-noise-
driven cavity optomechanics // Nature. 2012. V.488. P. 476-480.
34. Dalvit D.A.R., Neto P.A.M., Mazzitelli F.D. Fluctuations, dissipation and the dynamical
Casimir effect. http://arxiv.org/abs/1006.4790v2;
35. Wilson C.M., Johansson G., Pourkabirian A., Johansson J.R., Duty T., Nori F., Delsing P.
Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect in a Superconducting Circuit.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1105.4714v1
36. Pauli W. Theory of relativity. Translated by G. Field. New York: Pergamon Press Inc., 1959.
241 pp
37. Higgs P.W. Broken symmetries, massless particlees and gauge fields // Phys. Lett. 1964. V.
12. P. 132-133.
38. The CMS Collaboration. Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS
experiment at the LHC. http:// 1207.7235v2 [hep-ex].
39. The ATLAS Collaboration. Observation of a New Particle in the Search for the Standard
Model Higgs Boson with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC. http:// 1207.7214v2 [hep-ex]
40. Ginzburg V.L. Radiation by uniformly moving sources (Vavilov-Cherenkov effect, transition
radiation, and other phenomena) // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 1996. V.
39. N 10. P. 973–982.
41. Bolotovskii B.M. Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation: its discovery and application // Physics –
Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 2009. V. 52. N 11. P. 1099–1110.
42. Bailey J., Borer K., Combley F., et al. Measurements of relativistic time dilatation for
positive and negative muons in circular orbit // Nature. 1977. V. 268. P. 301-305.
43. Boyer T.H. Quantum electromagnetic zero-point energy of a conducting spherical shell and
the Casimir model for a charged particle // Phys, Rev. 1968. V. 174. P. 1764-1776.
44. Feynman R.P., Leighton R.B., Sands M. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Vol. 2:
Electromagnetism and Matter. Chap. 28, § 4. Addison Wesley. Reading Mass. 1966.
45. Milton K.A., DeRaad L.L., Jr, Schwinger J. Casimir self-stress on a perfectly conducting
spherical shell // Annals of Physics. 1978. V. 115. P. 388-403.
46. Balian R., Duplantier B. Electromagnetic waves near perfect conductors. II. Casimir effect
// Annals of Physics. 1978. V. 112. P. 165-208.
47. Ohanian H.C. What is spin? // American Journal of Physics. 1986. V. 54. N 6. P. 500-505.
48. Migdal A.B. Quadrupole and dipole γ-radiation of nuclei // JETP. 1945. V. 15. P. 81-88 (in
Russian).
49. Ferentz M., Gell-Mann M., Pines D. The giant nuclear dipole resonance // Phys. Rev. 1953.
V. 92. P. 836-837.
50. Ishkhanov B.S., Yudin N.P., Eramzhyan R.A. Giant Resonances in Atomic Nuclei // Physics
of Elementary Particles and Atomic Nuclei. 2000. V. 31. N. 2. P. 313-349.
51. Landau L.D., Lifshitz E.M. Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Oxford:
Pergamon Press, 1977.
52. Dubovikov M.S., Simonov Yu.A. Decay of resonant states and determination of their
quantum numbers // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 1971. V. 13. N 4. P.
522-543.

41
53. Lanczos C. The Variational Principles of Mechanics. Toronto: Univ. Toronto Press, 1964.
54. Ioffe B.L. The origin of mass and experiments on high-energy particle accelerators // Physics
– Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 2006. V. 49. N 10. P. 1077-1078.
55. Okun' L.B. Physics of elementary particles. Moscow: Nauka. 1984, 224 p. (in Russian)
56. Capozziello S., Cardone V.F., Trosi A. Reconciling dark energy models with f(R) theories //
Phys. Rev. D. 2005. V. 71. P. 043503.
57. Carroll S.M., Duvvuri V., Trodden M., Turner M.S. Is cosmic speed-up due to new
gravitational physics? // Phys. Rev. D. 2004. V. 70. P. 043528.
58. Arnold V.I. Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics. Springer, New York. 1978.
59. Greene B. The Elegant Universe. Vintage Books. A Division of Random House, Inc. New
York. 1999.
60. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus H.V., Zuber K. Teilchenastrophysik. B.G. Teubner GmbH, Stuttgart,
1997.
61. Spergel D. N.; Verde L., Peiris H.V. et al. First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy
Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters // The Astrophysical
Journal Supplement Series. 2003. V. 148. P. 175-194.; arXiv:astro-ph/0302209
62. Perelman G. The entropy formula for the Ricci flow and its geometric applications.
http://arXiv:math/0211159v1.
63. Chand H., Srianand R., Petitjean, Aracil B. Probing the cosmological variation of the fine
structure constant: Results based on the VLT-UVES sample; http://arXiv:astro-ph/0401094v1
64. Zel'dovich Ya.B., Novikov I.D. The Structure and Evolution of the Universe. Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1983.
65. Delvin M.J., Ade P.A.R., Aretxaga I., et al. Over half of the far-infrared background light
comes from galaxies at z ≥ 1.2 // Nature. 2009. V.458. P. 737-739.
66. Nagao T., Maiolino R., Breuck C. De et al. ALMA reveals a chemically evolved
submillimeter galaxy at z = 4.76 // Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2012. V. 542. L34-38;
arXiv:1205.4834v2 [astro-ph.CO] 29 May 2012.
67. Hogan C.J. Ripples of early starlight // Nature. 2007. V. 445. P. 37
68. Perlmutter S., Aldering G., Goldhaber G. et.al. Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High-
Redshift Supernovae // Astrophys. Journal. 1999. V. 517. P. 565-586.
69. Schmidt B.P., Suntzeff N.B., Phillips M. M., et al. The High-Z Supernova Search: Measuring
Cosmic Deceleration and Global Curvature of the Universe Using Type Ia Supernovae //
Astrophys. J. 1998. V. 507. p. 46-63.
70. Riess A., Filippenko A., Challis P. et al. Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an
Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant // Astron. J. 1998. V. 116. P. 1009-1038.
arXiv:astro-ph/9805201
71. Perlmutter S. Supernovae, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Universe. Physics Today.
2003. V. 56. N 4. P. 53-60.
72. Amanullah R., Lidman C., Rubin D., et al. Spectra and Hubble Space Telescope Light
Curves of Six Type Ia Supernovae at 0.511 < z < 1.12 and the Union2 Compilation // The
Astrophysical Journal, Volume 716, Issue 1, pp. 712-738 (2010).
73. Plebański J., Krasiński A. An introduction to General Relativity and cosmology. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 2006, 534 p.
74. Starobinsky A.A. How to determine an effective potential for a variable cosmological term //
JETP Lett. 1998. V. 68, No. 9-10. P. 721-726.
75. Vilenkin A. Many worlds in one: The search for other universes. New York: Hill and Wang.
2006, 235 p.
76. Linde A. Inflation, Quantum Cosmology and the Anthropic Principle. In: “Science and
Ultimate Reality: From Quantum to Cosmos”, honoring John Wheeler’s 90th birthday. J. D.
Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003
77. Pen Ue-Li, Loeb A. Gamma-ray bursts from barion decay in neutron stars. // The Astrophys.
Journal. 1998. V.509. P.537-543

42
78. Marshal H.L. The evidence in the afterglow // Nature. 2002. V.416. P.484-485.
79. Plaga R. Rays from the dark. Nature. 2008. V. 453. P. 48-49
80. Reeves J.N., Watson D., Osborne J.P. et al. The signature of supernova ejecta in the ray
afterglow of the γ-ray burst 011211. // Nature. 2002. V.416. P.512-515.
81. Gehrels N., J. P. Norris J. P., Barthelmy J. P. et al. A new γ-ray burst classification scheme
from GRB 060614. Nature. 2006. V. 444. P. 1044-1046.
82. Bloom J. S., Perley D. A., Li W. Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B:
Implications of Nature’s Brightest Explosion. The Astrophysical Journal. 2009. V. 691. N 1. P.
723-737.
83. Quimby R.M., Aldering G, Wheeler J.C. et al. SN 2005ap: A Most Brilliant Explosion.
http://arXiv:astro-ph/0709.0302v1 (Sep 2007).
84. Blandford R.D., Helfand D.J. Will GRB 990123 Perform an Encore? http://arXiv:astro-
ph/9902004v2 (Feb 1999).
85. Cenko, S.B., et al. GRB 070125: The first long-duration gamma-ray burst in a halo
environment // Astrophys. J. 2008. V. 677. P. 441- 447.
86. Abbasi R., Abdou Y., Abu-Zayyad T. et al. An absence of neutrinos associated with cosmic-
ray acceleration in γ-ray bursts // Nature. 2012. V. 484. P. 351-354].
87. Shafeev G.A., Simakin A.V., Bozon-Verduraz F., Robert M. Excitation of high energy levels
under laser exposure of suspensions of nanoparticles in liquids // Applied Surface Science. 2007.
V. 254 P. 1022-1026.
88. Simakin A.V., Shafeev G.A. Initiation of nuclear reactions under laser irradiation of metal
nanoparticles in the presence of thorium aqua ions // Physics of Wave Phenomena. 2008. V. 16.
N. 4. P. 268–274.
89. E.V. Barmina, I.A. Sukhov., N.M. Lepekhin, Yu.S. Priseko, V.G. Filippov, A.V. Simakin,
and G.A. Shafeev. Application of copper vapor lasers in control of activity of Uranium isotopes
// Quantum Electronics. 2013. V. 43. P. 591-596.
90. Shafeev G.A. Laser-Induced nuclear decays in uranium isotopes. In: Uranium:
Characteristics, Occurrence and Human Exposure. Eds. A.Ya. Vasiliev and M. Sidorov. Nova
Sci. Publishers. 2012. Chapter 4. P. 117-153.
91. Volkovich A.G., Govorun A.P., Gulyaev A.A., Zhukov S.V., Kuznetsov V.L., Rukhadze
A.A., Steblevsky A.V., Urutskoev L.I. // Bulletin of the Lebedev Physics Institute. 2002. N 8. P.
45-50.
92. Zel’dovich Ya.B., Gol’danskii V.I., Baz’ A.I. Systematics of the lightest nuclei // Physics –
Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences. 1965. V. 8. N 2. P. 177–201.
93. Hatanaka K., Miura T., Fukumura H. Ultrafast X-ray pulse generation by focusing
femtosecond infrared laser pulses onto aqueous solutions of alkali metal chloride // Appl. Phys.
Letters. 2002. V. 80. N 21. P. 3925-3927.
94. S.B. Borzakov, Ts. Panteleev, A.V. Strelkov, T. Soldner. The Search for the Dineutron at the
High Flux Reactor ILL (Grenoble, France ) // ISINN -10. JINR, Dubna, 2003.
95. Seth K., Parker B. Evidence for dineutrons in extremely nucleon-rich nuclei // Phys. Rev.
Letters. 1991. V.66. N 19. P. 2448-2451.
96. Barmina E.V., Kuzmin P.G., Timashev S.F., Shafeev G.A. Laser-induced synthesis and
decay of Tritium under exposure of solid targets in heavy water / http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.0830
[physics.gen-ph].
97. Timashev S.F., V. I. Muromtsev V.I., Akovantseva A.A. Nuclear Processes Initiated by
Electrons // Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2013, Vol. 87, No. 6, pp. 1063–1069
98. B. Pritychenko. On double-beta decay half-life time systematics. arXiv:1004.3280v1 [nucl-
th]
99. Fleishmann M., Pons S. and Hawkins M. Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of
deuterium // J. Electroanal. Chem. 1989. V. 261. P. 301-308.

43
100. Timashev S.F., Polyakov Yu.S., Lakeev S.G., Misurkin P.I., Danilov A.I. Fundamentals of
fluctuation metrology // Russian Journal Physical Chemistry A. 2010. V. 84. No 10. P. 1807-
1825.
101. Mirsaidov U., Timashev S.F., Polyakov Yu.S., Misurkin P.I., Polyakov S.V., Musaev I.
Analytical method for parameterizing the random profile components of nanosurfaces imaged by
atomic force microscopy // Analyst. 2011. V. 136. N 3, P. 570-576;
http://arxiv.org/abs/1010.6232.
102. Savvatimova I.B., Gavritenkov D.V. Influence of parameters of the glow discharge on
change of structure and the isotope composition of the cathode materials. In: Condensed Matter
Nuclear Science. Proc. 12th Intern. Conf. on Cold Fusion, Yokohamacity, Japan. 27 Nov-2 Dec
2005. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.: Singapore, 231-252 p.
103. Karabut A.B. Research into low-energy nuclear reactions in cathode sample solid with
production of excess heat, stable and radioactive impurity nuclides. In: Condensed Matter
Nuclear Science. Proc. 12th Intern. Conf. on Cold Fusion, Yokohama City, Japan. 27 Nov-2 Dec
2005. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.: Singapore, 214-230 p.
104. Kurchatov I.V. On the possibility of creation nuclear fusion reactions in gas discharge //
Advances in Physical Sciences. 1956. V. 59. N. 4. P. 603-618 [in Russian].
105. Trubnikov B.A. Theory of plasma. Moscow: Energoizdat, 1996, 461 p. [in Russian]
106. S.Yu. Luk'yanov, Hot plasma and controlled nuclear fusion. Moscow: “Nauka”. 1975. 398
p. [in Russian].
107. Fowler W.A., Burbidge G.R., Burbidge E.M. Nuclear reactions and element synthesis in the
surface of stars // Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 1955. V. 2. N. 17. P. 167-194.
108. L.M. Kozlova, G.F. Sitnik, and M.I. Divlekeev // Russian Astronomical Journal. 1988. V.
65. P. 1283 [in Russian].
109. Bondi H., Gold T. The Steady-State Theory of the Expanding Universe // Monthly Notices
Roy. Astron. Soc. 1948. V. 108. P. 252-270.
110. Hoyle F. New model for the expanding Universe // Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc.
1948. V. 108. P. 372-382.
111. Hoyle F., Burbidge G., Narlikar J.V. A quasi-steady state cosmological model with
creation of matter // The Astrophysical Journal. 1993. V. 410. P. 437-457.
112. Hobson M.P., Efstathiou G.; Lasenby A.N. General Relativity: An Introduction for
Physicists. Cambridge University Press, 2006. 388 p.
113. Massey R. Dark is the new black. Nature. 2009. V. 461. P. 740-741.
114. Wel A. van der, Rix H.-W., Wuyts S., et al. The majority of compact massive galaxies at z
~ 2 are disk dominated // Astrophys. J. 2011. V. 730. P. 38-41.
115. Dokkum Pieter van. Era of the compact disk // Nature. 2011. V. 473. P. 160-161.
90. G.W. Erickson. Improved Lamb-shift calculation for all values of Z // Phys. Rev. Lett. 1971.
V. 27. P. 780-783.
116. Akhiezer A.I., Berestetskii. Quantum electrodynamics. Moscow: Nauka. 1981. 428 p. (in
Russian).
117. Bouwens R.J., Illingworth G.D., Labble I., Oesch P.A. et al. A candidate redshift z ≈ 10
galaxy and rapid changes in that population at an age of 500 Myr // Nature. 2011. V. 469.
P.504-507.
118. Robertson B.E., Ellis R.S., Dunlop J.S., McLure R.J., Stark D.P. Early star-forming
galaxies and the reionization of the Universe // Nature. 2010. V. 468. P. 49-55.
119. Wojtak W., Hansen S.H., Hjorth J. Gravitational redshift of galaxies in clusters as
predicted by general relativity. Nature. 2011. V. 477. P. 567-569.
120. Wegner G. Gravity tested on large scales. Nature. 2011. V. 477. P. 541-543.
121. Lapkiewicz R., Li P., Schaeff C., Langford N.K., Ramelow S., Wieśniak M., Zeilinger A.
Experimental non-classicality of an indivisible quantum system // Nature. 2011. V. 474. P. 490-
493.
122. Cabello A. Correlations without part // Nature. 2011. V. 474. P. 456-458.

44
123. Shor P.W. Scheme for reducing decoherence in quantum computer memory // Phys. Rev. A.
1995. V.52. R2493-2496.
124. Knill E., Laflamme R., Zurek W. H. Resilient Quantum Computation // Science. 1998. V.
279. P. 342-345.
125. Haddon R.C., Chow S.-Y. Hybridization as a metric for the reaction coordinate of the
chemical reaction. Concert in chemical reactions // Pure and Appl. Chem. 1999. V. 71. N 2. P.
289-294.
126. Timashev S.F., Solovieva A.B., Buslaeva E.Yu., Gubin S.P. Concert processes in
supercritical fluids // Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry. 2012. V.86.
127. Khalfin L.A. Zeno’s quantum effect // Physics – Uspekhi. Advances in Physical Sciences.
1990. V.33. N 10. P. 865-867.
128. Misra B., Sudarshan E.C.G. The Zeno's paradox in quantum theory // J. Math. Physics.
1977. V.18. No.4. P. 756-763.
129. Itano W.M. Perspectives on the quantum Zeno paradox // ArXiv:quant-ph/0612187v1
130. Zeh H.D. The Physical Basis of Direction of Time. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. 2007, 239
p.
131. Volz J, Gehr R., Dubois G., Estève J., Reichel J. Measurement of the international state of a
single atom without energy exchange// Nature. 2011. V. 475. P. 210-213.
132. Maunz P. Gentle measurement // Nature. 2011. V. 475. P. 180-181.
133. Timashev S.F., Polyakov Yu.S. Review of flicker noise spectroscopy in electrochemistry.
Fluctuation and Noise Letters. 2007. V. 7. N. 2. P. R15-R47; http://arxiv.org/abs/0812.0030
134. Timashev S.F., Polyakov Yu.S., Misurkin P.I., Lakeev S.G. Anomalous diffusion as a
stochastic component in the dynamics of complex processes // Physical Rev. E. 2010. V. 81. No
4. P. 041128-1-17; http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.0235.

45