Vacuum energy, the Casimir effect, and Newton's non-constant

Abstract

We explore two hypotheses. First, the possibility that the quantum vacuum energy density of the Casimir effect contributes to a (local) gravitational vacuum energy density. Second, the possibility that a change in the gravitational coupling implies a change in the cosmological constant. We parametrize these two possibilities in a covariant framework and show that the next generation of Casimir experiments does have a surprisingly good chance of exploring this parameter space.