The standard model of cosmology (ΛCDM) faces the profound cosmological constant problem. In this study, we propose a novel theoretical framework that circumvents the need for an additional dark energy scalar field or a fixed cosmological constant. By bridging Prigogine’s non-equilibrium thermodynamics with the intrinsic dynamics of the vacuum field, we postulate that quantum states are generated at a constant rate with respect to an intrinsic vacuum time (τv). We demonstrate that the background matter density (ρm) modulates the evolutionary rate of this vacuum time. Consequently, quantum state generation is heavily suppressed in the early, dense universe, but gradually released as matter dilutes. This evolutionary process yields a macroscopic effective negative pressure, naturally explaining the dynamical transition from a matter-dominated decelerating expansion to late-time cosmic acceleration. Our model establishes a self-consistent correlation between the quantum generation mechanism and macroscopic spacetime evolution, potentially alleviating the fine-tuning issue associated with the cosmological constant.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.