The
name for this peculiar gravitationally repulsive state is not
well-established. Sandra Faber referred
to it as a vacuum with a finite energy density, and sometimes as a false
vacuum. In my own technical articles I
call it a false vacuum, although I have to explain that for most inflationary
models this usage stretches the meaning for which the phrase had previously
been used in particle physics. In this
article I will refer to it as a repulsive-gravity material. It may seem strange to see the words
"vacuum" and "material" used to describe the same thing, but keep in mind that
this stuff is strange. The word "vacuum" is used to emphasize that it is
different from ordinary matter, while I am calling it a material to emphasize
that it is different from an ordinary vacuum!
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