Related papers: Time evolution of T_{\mu\nu} and the cosmological …
It is well-known that quantum field theory (QFT) induces a huge value of the cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, which is outrageously inconsistent with cosmological observations. We review here some aspects of this fundamental theoretical…
The $q$-theory approach to the cosmological constant problem is reconsidered. The new observation is that the effective classical $q$-theory gets modified due to the backreaction of quantum-mechanical particle production by spacetime…
Space-time quantum contributions to the classical Einstein equations of General Relativity are determined. The theoretical background is provided by the non-perturbative theory of manifestly-covariant quantum gravity and the…
In quantum field theory the parameters of the vacuum action are subject to renormalization group running. In particular, the ``cosmological constant'' is not a constant in a quantum field theory context, still less should be zero. In this…
We consider a cosmology with decaying metastable dark energy and assume that a decay process of this metastable dark energy is a quantum decay process. Such an assumption implies among others that the evolution of the Universe is…
The standard model of elementary particle physics and the theory of general relativity can be extended by the introduction of a vacuum variable which is responsible for the near vanishing of the present cosmological constant (vacuum energy…
The accelerated expansion of the universe implies the existence of an energy contribution known as dark energy. Associated with the cosmological constant in the standard model of cosmology, the nature of this dark energy is still unknown.…
It was recently suggested that the cosmological constant problem as viewed in a non-perturbative framework is intimately connected to the choice of time and a physical Hamiltonian. We develop this idea further by calculating the…
In applications of Einstein gravity one replaces the quantum-mechanical energy-momentum tensor of sources such as the degenerate electrons in a white dwarf or the black-body photons in the microwave background by c-number matrix elements.…
The deep interrelation between elementary particle physics and cosmology manifests itself when one considers the contribution of quantum fluctuations of vacuum fields to the dark energy and the effective cosmological constant. The…
Increasing improvements in the independent determinations of the Hubble constant and the age of the universe now seem to indicate that we need a small non-vanishing cosmological constant to make the two independent observations consistent…
Assuming the existence of a cosmological constant depending on time, we study the evolution of this field in a local region of spacetime. Solving the standard equations of Einstein Relativity in the weak field approximation we find two…
A new mechanism of adjustment of vacuum energy down to the observed value from an initially huge one is considered. The mechanism is based on a very strong variation of the gravitational coupling constant in very early universe. The model…
Three of the big puzzles of theoretical physics are the following: (i) There is apparently no time evolution in the dynamics of quantum general relativity, because the allowed quantum states must obey the Hamiltonian constraint. (ii) During…
Equations for cosmological evolution are formulated in a Weyl invariant formalism to take into account possible Weyl anomalies. Near two dimensions, the renormalized cosmological term leads to a nonlocal energy-momentum tensor and a slowly…
Some time ago we have suggested that positive vacuum energy exhibits a finite quantum break time, which can be a signal that a positive cosmological constant is inconsistent. From the requirement that Universe never undergoes through…
The equations of motion for matter fields are invariant under the shift of the matter lagrangian by a constant. Such a shift changes the energy momentum tensor of matter by T^a_b --> T^a_b +\rho \delta^a_b. In the conventional approach,…
The Cosmological Constant Problem emerges when Quantum Field Theory is applied to the gravitational theory, due to the enormous magnitude of the induced energy of the vacuum. The unique known solution of this problem involves an extremely…
A commonly adopted relational account of time evolution in generally-covariant systems, and more specifically in quantum cosmology, is argued to be unsatisfactory, insofar as it describes evolution relative to observed readings of a clock…
This paper examines two cosmological models of quantum gravity (from string theory and loop quantum gravity) to investigate the foundational and conceptual issues arising from quantum treatments of the big bang. While the classical…