Phenomenological approach to the theory of the gravitational vacuum

The theoretical consequences of ascribing an energy-momentum tensor to the vacuum and assuming that the vacuum participates in forming the space-time metric are examined. The vacuum problem is investigated in the case of a centrally symmetric static field. Some important properties of the tensor are established using the symmetry of the problem and by comparisons with post-Newtonian and Newtonian limits. Exterior solutions are found, and the interior problem and a procedure for matching the solutions on the surface of a celestial body are formulated. It is argued that in celestial bodies the matter, gravitational vacuum, and metric form a unity determined by the solution of the gravitational field equations.