
This work explores the possibility that the gravitational phenomena commonly attributed to dark matter may arise from scale-invariant infrared fluctuations of the quantum vacuum. Under the hypothesis that the vacuum energy spectrum follows a nearly scale-invariant behavior at large wavelengths, coarse-grained infrared modes behave as an effective pressureless, collisionless component on galactic and cluster scales. This framework naturally reproduces several empirical regularities, including quasi-universal halo surface densities, density profiles close to an inverse-square radial dependence, flat rotation curves, the radial acceleration relation, and the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation, without introducing new particles. A semiclassical rationale based on stress–energy correlations of long-wavelength vacuum modes is outlined. In this picture, quadratic fluctuations of the vacuum can generate an effective large-scale gravitational component after coarse-graining. A speculative extension suggests that the same infrared sector may also contain an isotropic contribution that becomes dominant on horizon scales and could behave as a cosmological-constant-like term. The proposal is presented as an effective phenomenological framework rather than a complete microphysical theory.
Revised version with a streamlined and more concise conclusion, along with minor clarifications in the discussion of scale-dependent vacuum fluctuations.
quantum vacuum, stochastic gravity, scale invariance, modified gravity alternatives, dark energy, cosmology, dark matter
quantum vacuum, stochastic gravity, scale invariance, modified gravity alternatives, dark energy, cosmology, dark matter
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