Related papers: The Cosmological Constant is Probably Zero, and a …
Quantum cosmology is the quantum theory of the entire universe. Although strange at first sight, it is appropriate because (1) our world appears to be fundamentally quantum, (2) the classical description of gravity breaks down at…
We formulate the Lagrangian of the Newtonian cosmology where the cosmological constant is also introduced. Following the affine quantization procedure, the Hamiltonian operator is derived. The wave functions of the Newtonian universe and…
Contrary to popular mythology, Einstein did not invent the cosmological constant just in order construct his model universe. He discussed it earlier in "The Foundations of General Relativity" in connection with the proper structure of the…
What is the quantum state of the universe? That is the central question of quantum cosmology. This essay describes the place of that quantum state in a final theory governing the regularities exhibited universally by all physical systems in…
In this article the cosmological constant problems, as well as the astronomical evidence for a cosmologically significant homogeneous exotic energy density with negative pressure (quintessence), are reviewed for a broad audience of…
We suggest an interpretation of Einstein Equations of General Relativity at large scales in which the Cosmological constant is exactly zero in the limit of zero spacetime variations of fundamental constants. We argue that in a…
Next year we will celebrate 100 years of the cosmological term, $\Lambda$, in Einstein's gravitational field equations, also 50 years since the cosmological constant problem was first formulated by Zeldovich, and almost about two decades of…
I try to revive, and possibly reconcile, a debate started a few years ago, about the relative roles of a bare cosmological constant and of a vacuum energy, by taking the attitude to try to get the most from the physics now available as…
Within thermodynamic models of gravity, where the universe is considered as a finite ensemble of quantum particles, cosmological constant in the Einstein's equations appears as a constant of integration. Then it can be bounded using…
The Standard Cosmological Model of the 1980's is no more. I describe the definitive evidence that the density of matter is insufficient to result in a flat universe, as well as the mounting evidence that the cosmological constant is not…
Building upon our recently established correspondence between quantum cosmology and the hydrogen atom [1], we investigate the specific sector of a negative cosmological constant ($\Lambda < 0$) in a flat FLRW universe with dust. While the…
The observational evidence for the existence of a non-zero cosmological constant is getting stronger. It is therefore timely to address the question of its eventual effect on the dynamics of galaxies, clusters and larger structures in the…
In a previous work [1], it was speculated that the lack of homogeneity of the large-scale structure of the universe may be due to quantum fluctuations of space in the early universe. In [1], this was argued for a Friedmann-type universe for…
Using standard quantum field theory, we discuss several theoretical aspects of the possible running of the cosmological constant (CC) term in Einstein's equations. The basic motivation for the present work is to emphasize that this…
Under the assumption that the cosmological constant vanishes in the true ground state with lowest possible energy density, we argue that the observed small but finite vacuum-like energy density can be explained if we consider a theory with…
The harmonic oscillator in pseudo euclidean space is studied. A straightforward procedure reveals that although such a system may have negative energy, it is stable. In the quantized theory the vacuum state has to be suitably defined and…
Horava-Lifshitz theory of gravity with detailed balance is plagued by the presence of a negative bare (or geometrical) cosmological constant which makes its cosmology clash with observations. We argue that adding the effects of the large…
We consider an effective field theory description of gravity coupled to a scalar field with volume-preserving diffeomorphism and Weyl invariances. The smallness of the cosmological constant is achieved when the potential of the scalar is…
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…
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…