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nomadreid
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- TL;DR Summary
- The "zero energy universe" hypothesis and the corresponding "negative energy" are described in Wikipedia, but given the fact that these two pages contain descriptions which others in this forum have called (in other contexts) sloppy, I would like to know whether this hypothesis and the concept of negative energy in this context are valid, and if there is a link to a better explanation still on a level which is not too technical. Thank you.
In https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-energy_universe and in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_energy, the idea of a negative energy balancing out the positive energy in the universe is advanced. However, these two sites use descriptions of "quantum fluctuations", "virtual particles", typing them together with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, etc., in a way that has been described in Physics Forums (specifically, some excellent Insight articles by Arnold Neumaier) as sloppy. Therefore, I would like a more reliable source (but not too technical) as to this hypothesis, but my Internet search turned up similar articles. I am of course familiar with the possibility of labeling potential energy as negative, the negative energy solutions to Einstein's equations that are usually discarded, and a few other variations, but it seems to me that Wiki is talking about something else, although I could be mistaken. Any indications would be appreciated, thanks.