Related papers: An Expansion of Well Tempered Gravity
The current standard cosmological model is constructed within the framework of general relativity with a cosmological constant $\Lambda$, which is often associated with dark energy, and phenomenologically explains the accelerated cosmic…
There ought to exist a reformulation of quantum mechanics which does not refer to an external classical spacetime manifold. Such a reformulation can be achieved using the language of noncommutative differential geometry. A consequence which…
We propose several covariant models which may solve one of the problems in the cosmological constant. One of the model can be regarded as an extension of sequestering model. Other models could be regarded as extensions of the covariant…
The cosmological constant problem is studied in a two component cosmological model. The universe contains a cosmological constant of an arbitrary size and sign and an additional component with an inhomogeneous equation of state. It is shown…
In scalar-tensor Horndeski theories, nonsingular cosmological models - bounce and genesis - are problematic because of potential ghost and/or gradient instabilities. One way to get around this obstacle is to send the effective Planck mass…
We connect a possible solution for the ``cosmological constant problem'' to the existence of a (postulated) conformal fixed point in a fundamental theory. The resulting cosmology leads to quintessence, where the present acceleration of the…
With attempts to quench the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ having so far failed, we instead investigate what could be done if $\Lambda$ is not quenched and actually gets to be as big as elementary particle physics suggests. Since the…
We investigate the radiative stability of Horndeski scalar-tensor theories with luminally propagating gravitational waves (as extensively discussed in the wake of GW170817) and show that in general there is a tension between obtaining…
The modified gravity with 1/R term (R being scalar curvature) and the Einstein-Hilbert term is studied by incorporating the phantom scalar field. A number of cosmological solutions are derived in the presence of the phantom field in the…
Zero point fluctuations of quantum fields should generate a large cosmological constant energy density in any spacetime. How then can we have anything other than de Sitter space without fine tuning? Well tempering -- dynamical cancellation…
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,…
The Planck scale is usually believed to be an unpassable wall. Putting a cutoff there and thinking of it as a quantized spacetime entity shows that. However, this is exactly the cause of many problems in quantum gravity. The cosmological…
Cosmic acceleration can be achieved not only with a sufficiently flat scalar field potential but through kinetic terms coupled to gravity. These derivative couplings impose a shift symmetry on the scalar field, aiding naturalness. We write…
We examine an approach to cosmology, known as Well-Tempering, that allows for a de Sitter phase whose expansion is independent of the cosmological constant. Starting from a generic scalar-tensor theory compatible with the recent…
The presently open problem of the Hubble tension is shown to be removed in the context of a modified theory of gravity with a non-minimal coupling between curvature and matter. By evolving the cosmological parameters that match the cosmic…
We study a higher order conformally coupled scalar tensor theory endowed with a covariant geometric constraint relating the scalar curvature with the Gauss-Bonnet scalar. It is a particular Horndeski theory including a canonical kinetic…
We study the self-tuning subclass of kinetic gravity braiding and obtain robust predictions on self-tuning and dynamics in the tadpole-free shift symmetric sector of the theory. In particular, we show inevitability of cosmic acceleration,…
I examine how two specific examples of modified gravity explanations of cosmic acceleration help us understand some general problems confronting cosmological tests of gravity: how do we distinguish modified gravity from dark energy if they…
We trace the origin of the cosmological constant problem to the assumption that Newton's constant $G$ sets the scale for cosmology. And then we show that once this assumption is relaxed, the very same cosmic acceleration which has served to…
This thesis investigates late-time cosmic acceleration using modified gravity theories with a focus on $f(Q)$ gravity, as an alternative to the $\Lambda$CDM model. The standard cosmological model attributes the acceleration to a…