Related papers: Why the Cosmological Constant is so Small ? A Stri…
We propose a novel explanation for the smallness of the observed cosmological constant (CC). Regions of space with a large CC are short lived and are dynamically driven to crunch soon after the end of inflation. Conversely, regions with a…
We consider a possibility that the cosmological constant may not be a constant, but a free thermodynamical variable. To this end we construct a microscopic model of a spacelike two-sphere just inside of the cosmological horizon of the de…
A long-standing problem of theoretical physics is the exceptionally small value of the cosmological constant $\Lambda \sim 10^{-120}$ measured in natural Planckian units. Here we derive this tiny number from a toroidal string cosmology…
We derive a sufficient condition for realizing meta-stable de Sitter vacua with small positive cosmological constant within type IIB string theory flux compactifications with spontaneously broken supersymmetry. There are a number of `lamp…
The idea that the vacuum energy density $\rho_{\Lambda}$ could be time dependent is a most reasonable one in the expanding Universe; in fact, much more reasonable than just a rigid cosmological constant for the entire cosmic history. Being…
We present a model that naturally tunes a large positive cosmological constant to a small cosmological constant. A slowly rolling scalar field decreases the cosmological constant to a small negative value, causing the universe to contract,…
We discuss the cosmological implications of the string swampland conjectures for late-time cosmology, and test them against a wide range of state of the art cosmological observations. The refined de Sitter conjecture constrains either the…
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…
A mechanism for suppressing the cosmological constant is developed, based on an analogy with a superconducting phaseshift in which free fermions coupled perturbatively to a weak gravitational field are in an unstable false vacuum state. The…
Some issues of the cosmological constant or dark energy are briefly reviewed. There are an increasing number of observations that constrain the equation of state of dark energy more stringently and favor the time-independent cosmological…
We propose an approach to explaining why naive large quantum fluctuations are not the right estimate for the cosmological constant. We argue that the universe is in a superposition of many vacua, in such a way that the resulting…
Wheeler's conjectured "spacetime foam" -- large quantum fluctuations of spacetime at the Planck scale -- could have important implications for quantum gravity, perhaps even explaining why the cosmological constant seems so small. Here I…
A simple model is introduced in which the cosmological constant is interpreted as a true Casimir effect on a scalar field filling the universe (e.g. $\mathbf{R} \times \mathbf{T}^p\times \mathbf{T}^q$, $\mathbf{R} \times \mathbf{T}^p\times…
The accelerating expansion of the Universe points to a small positive vacuum energy density and negative vacuum pressure. A strong candidate is the cosmological constant in Einstein's equations of General Relativity. The vacuum dark energy…
The possible existence of (meta-) stable de Sitter vacua in string theory is of fundamental importance. So far, there are no fully stable solutions where all effects are under perturbative control. In this paper we investigate the presence…
There are now evidences that the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ has a non-zero positive value. Alternative scenarios to a pure cosmological constant model are provided by quintessence, an effective negative pressure fluid permeating the…
Motivated by recent work of Bousso and Polchinski (BP), we study theories which explain the small value of the cosmological constant using the anthropic principle. We argue that simultaneous solution of the gauge hierarchy problem is a…
There has been the suggestion that the cosmological constant as implied by the dark energy is related to the well-known hierarchy between the Planck scale, $M_{\rm Pl}$, and the Standard Model scale, $M_{\rm SM}$. Here we further propose…
We have considered a cosmological model with a cosmological constant of the form $\Lambda=3\alpha\frac{\dot R^2}{R^2}+\bt\frac{\ddot R}{R} \alpha, \bt=\rm const.$ The cosmological constant is found to decrease as $t^{-2}$ and the rate of…
The concordance model of cosmology favours a universe with a tiny positive cosmological constant. A tiniest positive constant curvature, profoundly alters the asymptotic structure, forcing a re-look at a theory of gravitational radiation.…