Related papers: Quantum Fine-Tuning in Stringy Quintessence Models
We examine the use of modified Higgs sectors to address the little hierarchy problem of supersymmetry. Such models reduce weak-scale fine-tuning by allowing lighter stops, but they retain some fine-tuning independent of the Higgs. The…
We investigate a cosmological model in which dark energy, represented by a quintessential scalar field, is directly coupled to a dark-matter perfect fluid. We are interested in solutions of cosmological relevance, namely those for which a…
We investigate the role of a possible coupling of dark matter and dark energy. In particular, we explore the consequences of such an interaction for the coincidence problem, i.e., for the question, why the energy densities of dark matter…
Models with a light, additional gauge boson are attractive extensions of the standard model. Often these models are only considered as effective low energy theory without any assumption about an UV completion. This leaves not only the…
We consider a model where both dark energy and dark matter originate from the coupling of a scalar field with a non-conventional kinetic term to, both, a metric measure and a non-metric measure. An interacting dark energy/dark matter…
Recent low-redshift observations give value of the present-time Hubble parameter $H_{0}\simeq 74~\rm{km s}^{-1}\rm{Mpc}^{-1}$, roughly 10\% higher than the predicted value $H_{0}=67.4~\rm{km s}^{-1}\rm{Mpc}^{-1}$ from Planck's observations…
We study the change of the effective fine structure constant in the cosmological models of a scalar field with a non-vanishing coupling to the electromagnetic field. Combining cosmological data and terrestrial observations we place…
A light scalar field, minimally or not-minimally coupled to the metric field, is a well-defined candidate for the dark energy, overcoming the coincidence problem intrinsic to the cosmological constant and avoiding the difficulties of…
Linear cosmological perturbations of a large class of modified gravity and dark energy models can be unified in the effective field theory of cosmic acceleration, encompassing Horndeski scalar-tensor theories and beyond. The fully available…
Astrophysical tests of the stability of fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, are a powerful probe of new physics. Recently these measurements, combined with local atomic clock tests and Type Ia supernova and…
A model of dark matter (DM) that communicates with the Standard Model (SM) exclusively through suppressed dimension five operator is discussed. The SM is augmented with a symmetry $U(1)_X \otimes Z_2$, where $U(1)_X$ is gauged and broken…
We present a modified gravity framework where the vacuum is modeled as a Higgs-type scalar field $\chi$ undergoing spontaneous symmetry breaking. By introducing a coupling $Q^\nu = \alpha T \nabla^\nu \chi$, we formalize a displacement…
In this essay, we discuss the fine-tuning problems of the Higgs mass and the cosmological constant. We argue that these are indeed legitimate problems, as opposed to some other "problems" that are sometimes described using similar…
We investigate a string-inspired dark energy scenario featuring a scalar field with a coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant. Such coupling can trigger the onset of late dark energy domination after a scaling matter era. The universe may…
Some physical imprints of quintessence scalar fields on dark matter (DM) clustering are illustrated, and a comparison with the concordance model $\Lambda CDM$ is highlighted. First, we estimate the cosmological parameters for two…
Dark matter and dark energy are usually assumed to couple only gravitationally. An extension to this picture is to model dark energy as a scalar field coupled directly to cold dark matter. This coupling leads to new physical effects, such…
In this paper we show how quantum corrections, although perturbatively small, may play an important role in the analysis of the existence of some classical models. This, in fact, appears to be the case of static, uniform--density models of…
In the first part of this note, we observe that a non-Riemannian piece in the affine connection (a "dark connection") leads to an algebraically determined, conserved, symmetric 2-tensor in the Einstein field equations that is a natural dark…
Despite its dominance in the present universe's energy budget, dark energy is the least understood component in the universe. Although there is a popular model for the dynamical dark energy, the quintessence scalar, the investigation is…
In the framework of teleparallel equivalent of general relativity, we study a gravity theory where a scalar field beyond its minimal coupling, is also coupled with the vector torsion through a non-minimal derivative coupling. After a…