Related papers: Conformal symmetry and the cosmological constant p…
According to general relativity, the present analysis shows on geometrical grounds that the cosmological constant problem is an artifact due to the unfounded link of this fundamental constant to vacuum energy density of quantum…
We study the cosmology of bimetric theory with a composite matter coupling. We find two possible branches of background evolution. We investigate the question of stability of cosmological perturbations. For the tensor and vector…
Resolution of the cosmological constant problem based on Causal Set theory is discussed. It is argued that one should not observe any spacetime variations in cosmological constant if Causal Set approach is correct.
We study gravity coupled to a cosmological constant and a scale but not conformally invariant sector. In Minkowski vacuum, scale invariance is spontaneously broken. We consider small fluctuations around the Minkowski vacuum. At the…
The mystery of the cosmological constant is probably the most pressing obstacle to significantly improving the models of elementary particle physics derived from string theory. The problem arises because in the standard framework of low…
We propose a phenomenological approach to the cosmological constant problem based on generally covariant non-local and acausal modifications of four-dimensional gravity at enormous distances. The effective Newton constant becomes very small…
The quantum field theory prediction of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude higher than the observed value. This is known as the cosmological constant problem. Here, we deal with the cosmological constant as a scalar field…
Well tempered cosmology provides a well defined path for obtaining cosmology with a low energy cosmic acceleration despite a high (Planck) energy cosmological constant $\Lambda$, through a scalar field dynamically canceling $\Lambda$. We…
A dynamical resolution to the cosmological constant fine-tuning problem has been previously put forward, based on a scalar-tensor gravitational theory possessing de Sitter attractor solutions characterized by a small Hubble expansion rate,…
A cosmological theory that predicts a late-time accelerated attractor with a constant dark matter to dark energy ratio can be said to solve the Coincidence Problem. Such cosmologies are naturally generated in the context of non-standard…
The 1+3 covariant approach and the covariant gauge-invariant approach to perturbations are used to analyze in depth conformal transformations in cosmology. Such techniques allow us to obtain very interesting insights on the physical content…
The standard formulation of the cosmological constant problem is based on one critical assumption---the spacetime is homogeneous and isotropic, which is true only on cosmological scales. However, this problem is caused by extremely small…
The cosmological constant problem is examined under the assumption that the extrinsic curvature of the space-time contributes to the vacuum. A compensation mechanism based on a variable cosmological term is proposed. Under a suitable…
We review selected aspects of unimodular gravity and we discuss its viability as a solution of the old cosmological constant problem. In unimodular gravity the cosmological constant is promoted to a global degree of freedom. We highlight…
In this essay we offer a comprehensible overview of the gravitational aether scenario. This is a possible extension of Einstein's theory of relativity to the quantum regime via an effective approach. Quantization of gravity usually faces…
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 study a symmetry, schematically Energy -> - Energy, which suppresses matter contributions to the cosmological constant. The requisite negative energy fluctuations are identified with a "ghost" copy of the Standard Model. Gravity…
The old cosmological-constant (CC) problem indicates an inconsistency of the usual formulation of semiclassical gravity. The usual formulation of semiclassical gravity also seems to be inconsistent with the conventional interpretation of…
Three of the big puzzles of theoretical physics are the following: (i) There is apparently no time evolution in the dynamics of quantum general relativity, because the allowed quantum states must obey the Hamiltonian constraint. (ii) During…
We study the non-perturbative renormalisation of quantum gravity in four dimensions. Taking care to disentangle physical degrees of freedom, we observe the topological nature of conformal fluctuations arising from the functional measure.…