In this theory, gravity exists because of a difference in concentration of information in the empty space between two masses and its surroundings; he also extrapolates this to general relativity and quantum mechanics.

He said in an interview with the newspaper de Volkskrant,[3] "On the smallest level Newton's laws don't apply, but they do for apples and planets.

It appears that Verlinde's approach to explaining gravity leads naturally to the correct observed strength of dark energy.

[5] In 1985, Verlinde started work on his PhD at Utrecht University under the formal supervision of Bernard de Wit.

The original arrangement was that only one of them would be working on the emerging field of string theory, but in the end all three of them wrote their theses on the subject.

In 2003, he returned to the Netherlands to become a professor in the string theory group led by Robbert Dijkgraaf at the University of Amsterdam.

In it he investigated conformal field theories in two dimensions and their relation to the description of the world sheet of fundamental strings.

In Verlinde's original work, the formula followed from mainly physical arguments, but since its introduction many formal mathematical proofs have been provided.

[11] This may imply that gravity is not a true fundamental force of nature (like e.g. electromagnetism), but instead is a consequence of the universe striving to maximize entropy.