Related papers: The cosmological constant as a boundary term
In this work, we show that a gauge-theoretic description of Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity naturally yields a Henneaux-Teitelboim (HT) unimodular gravity via a central extension of its isometry group, valid for both flat and curved…
Unimodular Gravity is one of the oldest geometric gravity theory alternative to General Relativity. Essentially, it is based on the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an additional constraint on the determinant of the metric. It can be…
We study cosmological perturbation theory within the framework of unimodular gravity. We show that the Lagrangian constraint on the determinant of the metric required by unimodular gravity leads to an extra constraint on the gauge freedom…
A two dimensional matter coupled model of quantum gravity is studied in the Dirac approach to constrained dynamics in the presence of a cosmological constant. It is shown that after partial fixing to the conformal gauge the requirement of a…
Some cosmological solutions of the unimodular theory of gravity are studied. These solutions can always be mapped to solutions of Einstein's general relativity in an appropiate frame. Constant scalar potentials however do not gravitate.…
The problem of the cosmological constant appears in a new light in Unimodular Gravity. In particular, the zero momentum piece of the potential (that is, the constant piece independent of the matter fields) does not automatically produce a…
We show that the description of the space-time of general relativity as a diagonal four dimensional submanifold immersed in an eight dimensional hypercomplex manifold, in torsionless case, leads to a geometrical origin of the cosmological…
Unimodular gravity is a compelling modified theory of gravity that offers a natural solution to the cosmological constant problem. However, for unimodular gravity to be considered a viable theory of gravity, one has to show that it has a…
We study the Hamiltonian structure of unimodular-like theories, where the cosmological constant (or other supposed constants of nature) are demoted from fixed parameters to classical constants of motion. No new local degrees of freedom are…
Unimodular gravity is classically equivalent to standard Einstein gravity, but differs when it comes to the quantum theory: The conformal factor is non-dynamical, and the gauge symmetry consists of transverse diffeomorphisms only.…
It is well-known that in unimodular gravity the cosmological constant is not sourced by a constant energy density, but rather appears as some sort of integration constant. In this work we try to flesh this out by studying in some detail a…
A new way is proposed to cancel the cosmological constant. The proposal involves the metric determinant acting as a type of self-adjusting $q$-field without need of a fine-tuned chemical potential. Since the determinant of the metric now…
The cosmological constant is treated as a thermodynamical parameter in the framework of two-dimensional dilaton gravity. We find that the cosmological constant behaves as a U(1) charge with a confining potential, and that such potentials…
The quantum description of time evolution in non-linear gravitational systems such as cosmological space-times is not well understood. We show, in the simplified setting of mini-superspace, that time evolution of this system can be obtained…
Recent astrophysical observations seem to indicate that the cosmological constant is small but nonzero and positive. The old cosmological constant problem asks why it is so small; we must now ask, in addition, why it is nonzero (and is in…
Within thermodynamic models of gravity, where the universe is considered as a finite ensemble of quantum particles, cosmological constant in the Einstein's equations appears as a constant of integration. Then it can be bounded using…
Following the idea of a field quantization of gravity as realized in group field theory, we construct a minisuperspace model where the wavefunction of canonical quantum cosmology (either Wheeler-DeWitt or loop quantum cosmology) is promoted…
In quantum field theory the parameters of the vacuum action are subject to renormalization group running. In particular, the ``cosmological constant'' is not a constant in a quantum field theory context, still less should be zero. In this…
Unimodular Gravity is normally assumed to be equivalent to General Relativity for all matters but the character of the Cosmological Constant. Here we discuss this equivalence in the presence of a non-minimally coupled scalar field. We show…
The covariant canonical transformation theory applied to the relativistic Hamiltonian theory of classical matter fields in dynamical space-time yields a novel (first order) gauge field theory of gravitation. The emerging field equations…