Related papers: Cosmologies with a time dependent vacuum
Most of the literature on general relativity over the last century assumes that the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is zero. However, by now independent observations have led to a consensus that the dynamics of the universe is best…
Time is a parameter playing a central role in our most fundamental modelling of natural laws. Relativity theory shows that the comparison of times measured by different clocks depends on their relative motions and on the strength of the…
Recent observations of high-redshift supernovae seem to suggest that the global geometry of the Universe may be affected by a `cosmological constant', which acts to accelerate the expansion rate with time. But these data by themselves still…
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…
The observed value of the cosmological constant corresponds to a time scale that is very close to the current conformal age of the universe. Here we show that this is not a coincidence but is caused by a periodic boundary condition, which…
We derive a model of dark energy which evolves with time via the scale factor. The equation of state $\omega=(1-2\alpha)/(1+2\alpha)$ is studied as a function of a parameter $\alpha$ introduced in this model. In addition to the recent…
The cosmological constant $\Lambda$ used to be a freedom in Einstein's theory of general relativity, where one had a proclivity to set it to zero purely for convenience. The signs of $\Lambda$ or $\Lambda$ being zero would describe…
Within some approaches to loop quantum cosmology, the existence of an Euclidean phase at high density has been suggested. In this article, we try to explain clearly what are the observable consequences of this possible disappearance of…
In cosmology based on general relativity, the universe is modeled as a fluid. The transition from the Einstein field equation to its large-scale (cosmological) version is thus analogous to the transition, for a system consisting of a large…
Cosmology is operating now on a well established and tightly constraining empirical basis. The relativistic LambdaCDM hot big bang theory is consistent with all the present tests; it has become the benchmark. But the many open issues in…
The evolution of a flat, isotropic and homogeneous universe is studied. The background geometry in the early phases of the universe is conjectured to be filled with causal bulk viscous cosmological fluid and dark energy. The energy density…
Physicists have speculated about the properties of the quantum vacuum for at least 85 years; however, only recently have they understood the quantum vacuum sufficiently well to begin making testable predictions. Specifically, using…
We describe a link between the cosmological constant problem and the problem of time in quantum gravity. This arises by examining the relationship between the cosmological constant and vacuum energy in light of non-perturbative formulations…
The $\Lambda$-term in Einstein's equations is a fundamental building block of the `concordance' $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology. Even though the model is not free of fundamental problems, they have not been circumvented by any alternative…
We propose that the solution to the cosmological vacuum energy puzzle may come from the infrared sector of the effective theory of gravity, where the impact of the trace anomaly is of upmost relevance. We proceed by introducing two…
We propose a revised formulation of General Relativity for cosmological settings, in which the Einstein constant varies with the energy density of the Universe. We demonstrate that this modification has only phenomenological impact of…
The dynamical effect of the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ on a single spherical void evolving in a the universe is investigated within a non linear perturbation of Newton-Friedmann models. The void expands with a huge initial burst which…
In the present mainstream cosmology, matter and spacetime emerged from a singularity and evolved through four distinct periods: early inflation, radiation, dark matter and late-time inflation (driven by dark energy). During the radiation…
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…
We argue that standard tools of holography can be used to describe fully non-perturbative microscopic models of cosmology in which a period of accelerated expansion may result from the positive potential energy of time-dependent scalar…