In this paper I formulate Minimal Requirements for Candidate Predictions in quantum field theories, inspired by viewing the standard model as an effective field theory. I then survey standard effective field theory regularization procedures, to see if the vacuum expectation value of energy density (\(\langle \rho \rangle\)) is a quantity that meets these requirements. The verdict is negative, leading to the conclusion that \(\langle \rho \rangle\) is not a physically significant quantity in the standard model. Rigorous extensions of flat space quantum field theory eliminate \(\langle \rho \rangle\) from their conceptual framework, indicating that it lacks physical significance in the framework of quantum field theory more broadly. This result has consequences for problems in cosmology and quantum gravity, as it suggests that the correct solution to the cosmological constant problem involves a revision of the vacuum concept within quantum field theory.

在本文中，我通过将标准模型视为一种有效的场论来启发，制定了量子场论中候选预测的最低要求。然后，我调查标准有效场论正则化程序，以查看能量密度的真空期望值（\（\ langle \ rho \ rangle \））是否满足这些要求。判决是否定的，得出的结论是\（\ langle \ rho \ rangle \）在标准模型中不是物理上显着的数量。平坦空间量子场论的严格扩展消除了\（\ langle \ rho \ rangle \）从他们的概念框架来看，表明它在量子场论的框架中缺乏物理意义。这一结果对宇宙学和量子引力问题产生了影响，因为它表明宇宙学常数问题的正确解决方案涉及对量子场论中真空概念的修正。