Related papers: Midisuperspace foam and the cosmological constant
The dynamical effect of the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ on a single spherical void evolving in a the universe is investigated within a non linear perturbation of Newton-Friedmann models. The void expands with a huge initial burst which…
First a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe filled with dust and a conformally invariant scalar field is quantized. For the closed model we find a discrete set of wormhole quantum states. In the case of flat spacelike sections we find…
We consider a novel model of cosmic inflation. In our model one does not need any specific matter field to drive inflation, but inflation stems from the microscopic, Planck scale structure of spacetime, thus being of quantum gravitational…
We consider implications of the microscopic dynamics of spacetime for the evolution of cosmological models. We argue that quantum geometry effects may lead to stochastic fluctuations of the gravitational constant, which is thus considered…
We have critically compared different approaches to the cosmological constant problem, which is at the edge of elementary particle physics and cosmology. This problem is deeply connected with the difficulties formulating a theory of quantum…
Due to quantum fluctuations, spacetime is foamy on small scales. The degree of foaminess is found to be consistent with holography, a principle prefigured in the physics of black hole entropy. It has bearing on the ultimate accuracies of…
Fluctuation terms and higher moments of a quantum state imply corrections to the classical equations of motion that may have implications in early-universe cosmology, for instance in the state-dependent form of effective potentials. In…
We show that in a two-dimensional model of quantum gravity the summation over all possible wormhole configurations leads to a kind of Coleman mechanism where the cosmological constant plays no role for large universes. Observers who are…
The quantum model of homogeneous and isotropic universe filled with the uniform scalar field is considered. This model predicts effective inverse square-law dependence of the mean total energy density <\rho> on the expectation value of…
The goal of spin foam models is to provide a viable path integral formulation of quantum gravity. Because of background independence, their underlying framework has certain novel features that are not shared by path integral formulations of…
I argue that a solution to the cosmological constant problem is to assume that the expectation value of the quantum vacuum stress-energy tensor is proportional to the metric tensor with a negative energy density and positive pressure. This…
In some cosmological theories with varying constants there are anthropic reasons why the expansion of the universe must not be too {\it close} to flatness or the cosmological constant too close to zero. Using exact theories which…
Quantum fluctuations can endow spacetime with a foamy structure. In this review article we discuss our various proposals to observationally constrain models of spacetime foam. One way is to examine if the light wave-front from a distant…
In this thesis the cosmological constant is investigated from two points of view. First, we study the influence of a time-dependent cosmological constant on the late-time expansion of the universe. Thereby, we consider several combinations…
We consider further consequences of recently [1] revealed role of cosmological constant \Lambda as of a physical constant, along with the gravitational one to define the gravity i.e. the General Relativity and its low-energy limit. We now…
A possibility to describe quantum gravitational fluctuations of the spacetime background is provided by virtual $D$-branes. These effects may induce a tiny violation of the Lorentz invariance (as well as a possible violation of the…
The linear cosmological perturbation theory of an almost homogeneous and isotropic perfect fluid universe is reconsidered and formally simplified by introducing new covariant and gauge-invariant variables with physical interpretations on…
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…
We introduce Hausdorff-Colombeau measure in respect with negative fractal dimensions. Axiomatic quantum field theory in spacetime with negative fractal dimensions is proposed.Spacetime is modelled as a multifractal subset of $R^{4}$ with…
The cosmological constant problem is turned around to argue for a new foundational physics postulate underlying a consistent quantum theory of gravity and matter, such as string theory. This postulate is a quantum equivalence principle…