Recent observational studies of distant supernovae have suggested the existence of cosmic vacuum whose energy density exceeds the total density of all the other energy components in the Universe. The vacuum produces the field of antigravity that causes the cosmological expansion to accelerate. It is this accelerated expansion that has been discovered in the observations. The discovery of cosmic vacuum radically changes our current understanding of the present state of the Universe. It also poses new challenges to both cosmology and fundamental physics. Why is the density of vacuum what it is? Why do the densities of the cosmic energy components differ in exact value but agree in order of magnitude? On the other hand, the discovery made at large cosmological distances of hundreds and thousands Mpc provides new insights into the dynamics of the nearby Universe, the motions of galaxies in the local volume of 10-20 Mpc where the cosmological expansion was originally discovered.

PACS: 98.80.−k DOI: 10.1070/PU2001v044n11ABEH000962 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2001/11/a/ 000174555600001 Citation: Chernin A D "Cosmic vacuum" Phys. Usp. 44 1099–1118 (2001) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Чернин А Д «Космический вакуум» УФН 171 1153–1175 (2001); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0171.200111a.1153