Related papers: Dark energy from the string axiverse
To explain the acceleration of the cosmological expansion researchers have considered an unusual form of mass-energy generically called dark energy. Dark energy has a ratio of pressure over mass density which obeys $w=p/\rho <-1/3$. This…
In gravitational theories with extra dimensions, it is argued that the existence of a positive vacuum energy generically implies catastrophic instability of our four-dimensional world. The most generic instability is a decompactification…
We consider a time-dependent bosonic string in graviton, dilaton and tachyon backgrounds, for which it was already shown that conformal invariance is respected to all orders in alpha' and in any space-time dimension. Assuming that the…
Observations suggest that nearly seventy per cent of the energy density in the universe is unclustered and exerts negative pressure. Theoretical understanding of this component (`dark energy'), which is driving an accelerated expansion of…
The apparent observation of dark energy poses problems for string theory. In de Sitter space, or in quintessence models, one cannot define a gauge-invariant S-matrix. We argue that eternal quintessence does not arise in weakly coupled…
Axion-like scalar fields can induce temporary deviations from the standard expansion history of the universe. The scalar field's contribution to the energy density of the universe grows while the field is held constant by Hubble friction,…
The string axion may provide the most attractive solution to the strong CP problem in QCD. However, the axion energy density easily exceeds the dark matter density in the present universe due to a large decay constant around $10^{16}$ GeV,…
Is there an absolute cosmic electric potential?. The recent discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe could be indicating that this is certainly the case. In this essay we show that the consistency of the covariant and gauge…
Axions have emerged as compelling candidates for describing the dark sector of the Universe. In this work, we explore quintessence models inspired by axion-like potentials as a dynamical alternative to the cosmological constant. These…
Axions and other very light axion-like particles appear in many extensions of the Standard Model, and are leading candidates to compose part or all of the missing matter of the Universe. They also appear in models of inflation, dark…
In axion quintessence, the cosmological era with an energy contrast in dark energy 0.1 < Omega_DE < 0.9 may represent a significant fraction of the universe's lifetime if the minimum of the axion potential is negative (unstable axion…
We study a dark energy model composed of a bare negative cosmological constant and a single ultra-light axion, motivated by the string axiverse. Assuming that intelligent observers arise and observe, as in our universe, the onset of…
Taking up four model universes we study the behaviour and contribution of dark energy to the accelerated expansion of the universe, in the modified scale covariant theory of gravitation. Here, it is seen that though this modified theory may…
Here, creation of the universe is obtained only from gravity sector. The dynamical universe begins with two basic ingredients (i) vacuum energy, also called dark energy (as vacuum energy is not observed) and (ii) background radiation. These…
We present cosmic solutions corresponding to universes filled with dark and phantom energy, all having a negative cosmological constant. All such solutions contain infinite singularities, successively and equally distributed along time,…
Recent cosmological observations suggest that nearly seventy per cent of the energy density in the universe is unclustered and has negative pressure. Several conceptual issues related to the modeling of this component (`dark energy'), which…
Early dark energy, as a proposed solution to the Hubble tension, faces an additional "why now" problem. Why should dark energy emerge just prior to recombination, billions of years before the onset of cosmic acceleration? Assisted…
The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational…
We consider a general class of vector-tensor theories of gravity and show that solutions with accelerated expansion and a future type III singularity are a common feature in these models. We also show that there are only six vector-tensor…
A dynamical model for the dark energy is presented in which the ``quintessence'' field is the axion, $a_Z$, of a spontaneously broken global $U(1)_{A}^{(Z)}$ symmetry whose potential is induced by the instantons of a new gauge group…