Related papers: The cosmological constant problem: a user's guide
A short review about vacuum energy and the cosmological constant is presented. The observed acceleration of the universe introduces a new meV energy scale. The problem is that, theoretically, the predicted vacuum energy is many orders of…
The cosmological constant problem is reviewed and a possible quantum gravity resolution is proposed. A space satellite E\"otv\"os experiment for zero-point vacuum energy is proposed to see whether Casimir vacuum energy falls in a…
We propose that the observed value of the cosmological constant may be explained by a fundamental uncertainty in the spacetime metric, which arises when combining the principle that mass and energy curve spacetime with the quantum…
A finite quantum gravity theory is used to resolve the cosmological constant problem. A fundamental quantum gravity scale, \Lambda_G \leq 10^{-3} eV, is introduced above which the quantum corrections to the vacuum energy density coupled to…
The cosmological constant problem can be understood as the failure of the decoupling principle behind effective field theory, so that some quantities in the low-energy theory are extremely sensitive to the high-energy properties. While this…
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…
The old cosmological constant problem is to understand why the vacuum energy is so small; the new problem is to understand why it is comparable to the present mass density. Several approaches to these problems are reviewed. Quintessence…
We examine the general issue of whether a scale dependent cosmological constant can be consistent with general covariance, a problem that arises naturally in the treatment of quantum gravitation where coupling constants generally run as a…
The cosmological constant problem is explained by a theory based on the discrete space-time hypothesis. The calculated cosmological constant value is of the order of 10^-52[m]^-2 or equivalent to about 0.7 of the critical mass density. It…
The Cosmological Constant Problem is re-examined from an effective field theory perspective. While the connection between gravity and particle physics has not been experimentally probed in the quantum regime, it is severely constrained by…
We consider a linearized, effective quantum theory of gravitation in which gravity weakens at energies higher than ~10^-3 eV in order to accommodate the apparent smallness of the cosmological constant. Such a theory predicts departures from…
The possible small variation downward by about $10^{-5}$, of the ratio of the proton mass to the electron mass, over cosmological time is related to the decrease with time of a small vacuum expectation value for a Goldstone-like…
The cosmological constant presents one of the most fascinating and confounding problems in physics. A straightforward, seemingly robust prediction of quantum mechanics and general relativity is that the vacuum energy gravitates. Therefore,…
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…
I briefly review the cosmological constant problem and the issue of dark energy (or quintessence). Within the framework of quantum field theory, the vacuum expectation value of the energy momentum tensor formally diverges as $k^4$. A cutoff…
The paper deals with the scale discrepancy between the observed vacuum energy in cosmology and the theoretical quantum vacuum energy (cosmological constant problem). Here, we demonstrate that Einstein's equation and an analogy to particle…
It has been suggested previously that the observed cosmological constant Lambda corresponds to the remnant vacuum energy density of dynamical processes taking place at a cosmic age set by the mass scale M \sim E_{ew} of ultramassive…
The cosmological "equation of state parameter", w, is equal to -1 for a true cosmological constant, and is greater than -1 for quintessence. There is a widespread reluctance to consider the remaining possibility, w < -1, though in fact…
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…
After a short history of the $\Lambda$-term it is explained why the (effective) cosmological constant is expected to obtain contributions from short-distance physics, corresponding to an energy at least as large as the Fermi scale. The…