Related papers: On Dark Energy and Quantum Gravity
Enforcing the spacetime of supermassive cosmic strings to satisfy the symmetry of a gravitational topological defect, that is a spacetime kink, it is shown that the energy of these strings becomes quantized so that only defects whose…
We derive a model of dark energy which evolves with time via the scale factor. The equation of state $\omega=(1-2\alpha)/(1+2\alpha)$ is studied as a function of a parameter $\alpha$ introduced in this model. In addition to the recent…
A scalar-tensor theory of gravity is formulated in which $G$ and particle masses are allowed to vary. The theory yields a globally static cosmological model with no evolutionary timescales, no cosmological coincidences, and no flatness and…
The persistent challenge of creating stable de Sitter vacua within string theory undermines the observational validity of the $\Lambda$ cold dark matter (CDM) model. This difficulty suggests that the concordance model of cosmology,…
The energy density of the vacuum, Lambda, is at least 60 orders of magnitude smaller than several known contributions to it. Approaches to this problem are tightly constrained by data ranging from elementary observations to precision…
Consistency of the unconventional view of de Sitter space as a quantum theory of gravity with a finite number of degrees of freedom requires that Coleman-De Luccia tunneling rates to vacua with negative cosmological constant should be…
One of the major problems in quantum gravity research is the lack of signals at the reach of present or near-future experimental facilities. In this paper, we show that this is not the case. Contrary to previous claims, the quantum decay of…
We present evidence that a special class of gravitationally-coupled hidden sectors, in which conformal invariance is dynamically broken in a controlled way, exhibit the properties of dark energy. Such quantum field theories may appear while…
We use data from observational cosmology to put constraints on higher-dimensional extensions of general relativity in which the effective four-dimensional dark-energy density (or cosmological "constant") decays with time. In particular we…
Observational evidence of dark energy that makes the Universe nearly flat at the present epoch is very strong. We study the link between spatial continuity and dark energy. We assume that comoving space is a compact 3-manifold of constant…
We study the extent up to which the equivalence principle is obeyed in models of modified gravity and dark energy involving a single scalar degree of freedom. We focus on the effective field theories of dark energy describing the late time…
In this Chapter we would like to review a "~phenomenological~" approach taking into account the most fundamental feature of string theory or, more in general, of quantum gravity, whatever its origin, which is the existence of a minimal…
The cosmological constant is not an absolute constant. The gravitating part of the vacuum energy is adjusted to the energy density of matter and to other types of the perturbations of the vacuum. We discuss how the vacuum energy responds…
We present a critical review and summary of String Gas Cosmology. We include a pedagogical derivation of the effective action starting from string theory, emphasizing the necessary approximations that must be invoked. Working in the…
We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1) gauge field with gauge coupling g, there is a…
A dynamical aspect of quantum gravity on de Sitter spacetime is investigated by holography or the dS/CFT correspondence. We show that de Sitter spacetime emerges from a free Sp(N) vector model by complexifying the ghost fields and flowing…
We study quantum strings in strong gravitational fields. The relevant small parameter is $g=R_c{\sqrt T_0}$, where $R_c$ is the curvature of the spacetime and $T_0$ is the string tension. Within our systematic expansion we obtain to zeroth…
We argue that quantum theory should proceed not from a spacetime background but from a Lie algebra, which is treated as a symmetry algebra. Then the fact that the cosmological constant is positive means not that the spacetime background is…
The late-time behavior of our universe is one of accelerated expansion, or that of a de Sitter space, and therefore motivates us to look for time-dependent backgrounds. Finding such backgrounds in string theory has always been a challenging…
Assuming the validity of the general relativistic description of gravitation on astrophysical and cosmological length scales, we analytically infer that the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with Einsteinian cosmological constant, and a…