Abstract

A model of a three-dimensional quantum vacuum based on Planck energy density as a universal property of a granular space is suggested. The possibility to provide an unifying explanation of dark matter and dark energy as phenomena linked with the fluctuations of the three-dimensional quantum vacuum is explored. The changes and fluctuations of the quantum vacuum energy density generate a curvature of space–time similar to the curvature produced by a “dark energy” density. The formation of large scale structures in the universe associated to the flattening of the orbital speeds of the spiral galaxies can be explained in terms of primary fluctuations of the quantum vacuum energy density without attracting the idea of dark matter.