Related papers: Midisuperspace foam and the cosmological constant
The astronomically observed value of the cosmological constant is small but non-zero. This raises two questions together known as the cosmological constant problem a) why is lambda so nearly zero? b) why is lambda not EXACTLY zero? Sorkin…
It is found that the existence of spacetime foam leads to a situation in which the number of fundamental quantum bosonic fields is a variable quantity. The general aspects of an exact theory that allows for a variable number of fields are…
The principles of General Relativity allow for a non-vanishing cosmological constant, which can possibly be interpreted at least partially in terms of quantum-fluctuations of matter fields. Depending on sign and magnitude it can cause…
Suppose the usual description of spacetime as a 4-dimensional manifold with a Lorentzian metric breaks down at Planck energies. Can we still construct sensible theoretical models of the universe? Are they testable? Do they lead to a…
Quantum fluctuations endow spacetime with a foamy texture. The degree of foaminess is dictated by blackhole physics to be of the holographic type. Applied to cosmology, the holographic foam model predicts the existence of dark energy with…
There appears to be no natural explanation for the cosmological constant's small size within the framework of local relativistic field theories. We argue that the recently-discussed framework for which the observable universe is identified…
Quantum liquids, in which an effective Lorentzian metric and thus some kind of gravity gradually arise in the low-energy corner, are the objects where the problems related to the quantum vacuum can be investigated in detail. In particular,…
In a quest to explain the small value of the today's cosmological constant, following the approach introduced in [1], we show that the theoretical value of cosmological constant is consistent with its observational value. In more detail, we…
It is well-known that quantum field theory (QFT) induces a huge value of the cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, which is outrageously inconsistent with cosmological observations. We review here some aspects of this fundamental theoretical…
An accelerated universe should naturally have a vacuum energy density determined by its dynamical curvature. The cosmological constant is most likely a temporary description of a dynamical variable that has been drastically evolving from…
The problem of the physical nature and the cosmological genesis of Lambda-term is discussed. This problem can't be solved in terms of the current quantum field theory which operates with Higgs and non-perturbative vacuum condensates and…
We advance the viewpoint that only relevant modes of the vacuum fluctuations, namely, with wavelengths conditioned by the size, homogeneity, geometry and topology of the Universe, do contribute into the cosmological constant. A formula is…
The regime of exponentially fast expansion in 5D cosmological models was investigated. Many limit cases was also studied. It was shown that there is a possibility to particle creation in a static 4D spacetime if it embedded in an bulk with…
At the level of the Planck scale, the spacetime metric has to be considered a quantum variable. Conformal quantum fluctuations of the metric tensor are studied here. They lead to an extra term in the Einstein equations which can be…
Quantum Space Time may be characterized by a plethora of novel phenomena, such as Lorentz violations and non-trivial refractive indices, stochastic metric fluctuation effects leading to decoherence of quantum matter and non-commutativity of…
The existence of a small, non-zero cosmological constant is one of the major puzzles in fundamental physics. Naively, quantum field theory arguments would imply a cosmological constant which is up to 10$^{120}$ times larger than the…
We suggest that the (small but nonvanishing) cosmological constant, and the holographic properties of gravitational entropy, may both reflect unconventional quantum spin-statistics at a fundamental level. This conjecture is motivated by the…
The cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is a measure of the energy density of the vacuum. Therefore properties of the energy of the system in the metastable vacuum state reflect properties of $\Lambda = \Lambda(t)$. We analyze properties of the…
Possible analogies between vacuum state and quantum fluid provide a model to study vacuum energy density induced by thermal corrections, space-time curvature, boundary conditions and quantum back-reaction. We find that vacuum energy density…
A semiclassical cosmological model is considered which consists of a closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker in the presence of a cosmological constant, which mimics the effect of an inflaton field, and a massless, non-conformally coupled quantum…