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We outline a dynamical dark energy scenario whose signatures may be simultaneously tested by astronomical observations and laboratory experiments. The dark energy is a field with slightly sub-gravitational couplings to matter, a logarithmic…
One of the main virtues of string gas cosmology is that it resolves cosmological singularities. Since the Universe can be approximated by a locally asymptotically de Sitter spacetime by the end of the inflationary era, a singularity theorem…
The universe appears to be accelerating, but the reason why is a complete mystery. The simplest explanation, a small vacuum energy (cosmological constant), raises three difficult issues: why the vacuum energy is so small, why it is not…
We focus on uncertainties in supernova measurements, in particular of individual magnitudes and redshifts, to review to what extent supernovae measurements of the expansion history of the universe are likely to allow us to constrain a…
Dark energy constraints have forced viable alternatives that differ substantially from a cosmological constant Lambda to have an equation of state w that evolves across the phantom divide set by Lambda. Naively, crossing this divide makes…
We give detailed proofs of several new no-go theorems for constructing flat four-dimensional accelerating universes from warped dimensional reduction. These new theorems improve upon previous ones by weakening the energy conditions, by…
In isotropic loop quantum cosmology, non-perturbatively modified dynamics of a minimally coupled scalar field violates weak, strong and dominant energy conditions when they are stated in terms of equation of state parameter. The violation…
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…
Precision cosmological data hint that a dark energy with equation of state $w = P/\rho < -1$ and hence dubious stability is viable. Here we discuss for any $w$ nucleation from $\Lambda > 0$ to $\Lambda = 0$ in a first-order phase…
We address the fine-tuning problem of dark energy cosmologies which arises when the dark energy density needs to initially lie in a narrow range in order for its present value to be consistent with observations. As recently noticed, this…
The energy conditions of general relativity permit one to deduce very powerful and general theorems about the behaviour of strong gravitational fields and cosmological geometries. However, the energy conditions these theorems are based on…
A web of interlocking observations has established that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up and not slowing, revealing the presence of some form of repulsive gravity. Within the context of general relativity the cause of cosmic…
The smallness of the cosmological constant is one of the basic problems in particle physics and cosmology. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been found yet. The appearance of extra…
The principles of General Relativity allow for a non-vanishing cosmological constant, which can possibly be interpreted at least partially in terms of quantum-fluctuations of matter fields. Depending on sign and magnitude it can cause…
In loop quantum cosmology nonperturbative modification to a scalar matter field at short scales implies inflation which also means a violation of the strong energy condition. In the framework of effective Hamiltonian we discuss the issue of…
We present a space-velocity theory of gravitation in a 4-dimensional curved space. The solutions of the field equations yield 3 possibilities for the universe expansion but only the accelerating one is possible. Although the theory has no…
In the context of Einstein gravity, if the null energy condition (NEC) is satisfied, the energy density in expanding space-times always decreases while in contracting space-times the energy density grows and the universe eventually…
We propose a technically natural scenario whereby an initially large cosmological constant (c.c.) is relaxed down to the observed value due to the dynamics of a scalar evolving on a very shallow potential. The model crucially relies on a…
We investigate two simplified non-singular cyclic models with a negative time-varying cosmological constant to represent the non-conventional mechanism of negative cosmological constant expected to address the late-time cosmic acceleration.…
We show that violation of the null energy condition implies instability in a broad class of models, including classical gauge theories with scalar and fermionic matter as well as any perfect fluid. When applied to the dark energy, our…