358 | Solo: Vacuum Energy and the Cosmological Constant
June 22, 2026
1 hr 59 min
358
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432 of 432
Episode 358 · June 22, 2026
358 | Solo: Vacuum Energy and the Cosmological Constant
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Sean Carroll Episodes Around June 22, 2026
Episode 432 of 432 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
346 | Erica Cartmill on How Human and Animal Minds Think and Play
351 | Peter Singer on Maximizing Good for All Sentient Creatures
358 | Solo: Vacuum Energy and the Cosmological Constant
Summary
<p>The most surprising discovery in fundamental physics during my career as a scientist was undoubtedly the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_expansion_of_the_universe">acceleration of the universe</a>, announced in 1998. The most straightforward explanation for these observations is a positive cosmological constant, or vacuum energy. I talk about the origin of the idea with Einstein, how quantum physicists started to think about it and understand the "cosmological constant problem," as well as how its discovery also raised the "coincidence problem." This is the first of two connected solo episodes; the next will be on theories of dark energy that are not the cosmological constant.</p> <p>Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/06/22/358-solo-vacuum-energy-and-the-cosmological-constant/"> https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/06/22/358-solo-vacuum-energy-and-the-cosmological-constant/</a></p> <p><em>Support Mindscape on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patreon</a>.</em></p>
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