Related papers: TASI Lectures on the Cosmological Constant
We present an approach to the problem of vacuum energy in cosmology, based on dynamical screening of Lambda on the horizon scale. We review first the physical basis of vacuum energy as a phenomenon connected with macroscopic boundary…
The presence of dark energy in the Universe is inferred directly and indirectly from a large body of observational evidence. The simplest and most theoretically appealing possibility is the vacuum energy density (cosmological constant).…
A simple description of the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) problem for non-experts is presented. Basic features of cosmology with non-zero vacuum energy are discussed. The astronomical data which indicate that the universe is filled…
We construct a vacuum of string theory in which the magnitude of the vacuum energy is $< 10^{-123}$ in Planck units. Regrettably, the sign of the vacuum energy is negative, and some supersymmetry remains unbroken.
We have studied the closed universe model with the variable cosmological term, which is presented as a sum of two terms: Lambda=Lambda_0 -k R. First term Lambda_0 is a constant and it is describing a sum of quantum field's zero…
In this paper, we give a conceptual explanation of dark energy as a small negative residual scalar curvature present even in empty spacetime. This curvature ultimately results from postulating a discrete spacetime geometry, very closely…
A diverse set of observations now compellingly suggest that Universe possesses a nonzero cosmological constant. In the context of quantum-field theory a cosmological constant corresponds to the energy density of the vacuum, and the wanted…
Despite the many efforts, our theoretical understanding of the ultimate nature of the dark energy component of the universe still lags well behind the astounding experimental evidence achieved from the increasingly sophisticated…
This paper deals with the cancellation mechanism, which identifies the energy density of space-time expansion in an empty universe with the zero-point energy density and avoids the scale discrepancy with the observed energy density…
If the observed dark-energy density $\rho_\Lambda$ is interpreted as the net contribution of the energy density of the vacuum, $\rho_\Lambda \equiv \rho_V \sim M_V^4$, and the corresponding vacuum length scale $\lambda_V = M_V^{-1}$ as the…
We discuss how we remove a huge discrepancy between the theory of a cosmological constant, due to the zero-point energies of matter fields, and the observation. The technique of dimensional regularization plays a decisive role. We…
The common nature of dark matter and dark energy is argued in [1] based on the approach that the cosmological constant \Lambda enters the weak-field General Relativity following from Newton theorem on the "sphere-point mass" equivalency…
The quantum field theory prediction of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude higher than the observed value. This is known as the cosmological constant problem. Here, we deal with the cosmological constant as a scalar field…
It is suggested that the true ground state of the world has exactly vanishing vacuum energy and that the cosmological constant that seems to have been observed is due to our region of the universe being stuck in a false vacuum, whose energy…
I consider the relation of explanations for the observed data to testability in the following contexts: observational and experimental detection of dark matter; observational and experimental detection of dark energy or a cosmological…
Dark energy in the universe is assumed to be vacuum energy. The energy-momentum of vacuum is described by a scale-dependent cosmological constant. The equations of motion imply for the density of matter (dust) the sum of the usual matter…
Recent cosmological observations suggest the existence of a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$ with the magnitude $\Lambda(G\hbar/c^3) \approx 10^{-123}$. This review discusses several aspects of the cosmological constant both from…
We consider a very simple toy model for a spatially varying `cosmological constant', where we are inside a spherical bubble (with a given set of cosmological parameters) that is surrounded by a larger region where these parameters are…
Entropy bounds render quantum corrections to the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ finite. Under certain assumptions, the natural value of $\Lambda$ is of order the observed dark energy density $\sim 10^{-10} {\rm eV}^4$, thereby resolving…
We suggest an alternative framework for interpreting the current state of the visible universe. Our approach is based on a dynamical ``Cosmological Constant'' and the starting point is that a decaying vacuum produces matter. As we point…