Spacetime behaves like a thick, pressurized fluid that prevents the universe from ever crunching down into an infinitely small point.
April 25, 2026
Original Paper
Van der Waals Gravity Theory
arXiv · 2604.19831
The Takeaway
Traditional gravity models predict that black holes and the Big Bang start as a singularity, a point of infinite density that breaks the laws of physics. This new theory treats the fabric of space like a non-ideal gas, where atoms have actual volume and cannot be squeezed into nothing. Because the particles of spacetime push back against each other, the universe avoids a total collapse and bounces back instead. This effectively deletes the most frustrating mathematical errors in our understanding of the cosmos. It means the beginning of time was likely a smooth transition rather than a physical impossibility.
From the abstract
In this study, we propose an extension of general relativity inspired by the van der Waals equation of state, incorporating non-ideal thermodynamic effects into the gravitational sector. Our approach is based on the thermodynamic interpretation of gravity introduced by Jacobson, in which the field equations arise from the Clausius relation. Within this framework, we obtain modified gravitational field equations in which the effective gravitational coupling is no longer constant, but instead evol