Antimatter Gravity Experiments, the Astronomical Challenges to ΛCDM Cosmology and the Quantum Vacuum as a Possible Source of Gravity in the Universe

Abstract

This review is motivated by the first result of the ALPHA-g experiment at CERN, which indicates that atoms and anti-atoms have different gravitational charges; according to measurements, the gravitational acceleration of anti-atoms is only 0.75 of that of ordinary matter. If confirmed by more precise measurements, this will greatly increase the plausibility of the emerging cosmological model, which is based on the working hypothesis that quantum vacuum fluctuations are virtual gravitational dipoles; a hypothesis that opens up the possibility that the quantum vacuum is a major source of gravity in the universe (which could eventually eliminate the need for the hypothetical dark matter and dark energy). This laboratory challenge to general relativity and ΛCDM cosmology is complemented by astronomical challenges (the Hubble tension, very fast initial growth of structures in the Universe, dark energy deviating from the cosmological constant…). The intriguing question is: do the antimatter gravity experiments at CERN and the recent astronomical observations point to the same (highly unexpected) new physics? With this question in mind, we briefly review the antimatter gravity experiments at CERN and elsewhere, together with the major astronomical challenges and the emerging Quantum Vacuum cosmology, which seems to be compatible with the ALPHA-g result and with the preliminary astronomical challenges to ΛCDM cosmology. The laboratory and astronomical challenges have suddenly taken us into terra incognita, where we need absolutely unprecedented imagination and open-minded thinking.