Reviewing Redshifts and the Zero Point Energy

Abstract

One key topic in astronomy is the redshift of light from distant galaxies. Currently there are two main models for what is observed, but discrepant data reveal that neither approach gives an adequate answer to the matter. In 1985 a suggestion was made that the answer to this problem may be found in the light emitted from the atoms within the galaxies themselves, rather than something happening to light in transit. That suggestion is examined with a more complete understanding of the vacuum Zero Point Energy (ZPE) that has emerged recently, since, on one view, it controls the electromagnetic properties of space. A review is undertaken of both the redshift and its problems and also the way our understanding of the ZPE has developed. The facts emerging from these reviews are then applied to suggest a different cause for the redshift, and a concordant reason for redshift quantization.