Related papers: Cosmic Energy Density: Particles, Fields and the V…
Scalar field dark energy evolving from a long radiation- or matter-dominated epoch has characteristic dynamics. While slow-roll approximations are invalid, a well defined field expansion captures the key aspects of the dark energy evolution…
An additional variation of the Einstein-Hilbert action with respect to the Planck mass provides a constraint on the average Ricci scalar that prevents vacuum energy from gravitating. Consideration of the evolution of the inhomogeneous…
We propose that the solution to the cosmological vacuum energy puzzle may come from the infrared sector of the effective theory of gravity, where the impact of the trace anomaly is of upmost relevance. We proceed by introducing two…
We study the cosmological evolution of a scalar field that couples to the trace $T=T^{a}_a$ of energy momentum tensor of all the fields (including itself). In the case of a shallow exponential potential, the presence of coupling to the…
We consider a nonsingular deflationary cosmological model with decaying vacuum energy density in universes of arbitrary spatial curvature. Irrespective of the value of $k$, the models are characterized by an arbitrary time scale $H_I^{-1}$…
The cosmological constant, i.e., the energy density stored in the true vacuum state of all existing fields in the Universe, is the simplest and the most natural possibility to describe the current cosmic acceleration. However, despite its…
We show that there exists a choice of scalar field modes, such that the evolution of the quantum field in the zero-mass and large-mass limits is consistent with the Einstein equations for the background geometry. This choice of modes is…
There is now strong evidence that the current energy density of the Universe is dominated by dark energy with an equation of state w<-1/3, which is causing accelerated expansion. The build-up of structure within such Universes is subject to…
By example of a model with a spatially global scalar field, we show that the energy density of zero-point modes is exponentially suppressed by an average number of field quanta in a finite volume with respect to the energy density in the…
Nearly seventy per cent of the energy density in the universe is unclustered and exerts negative pressure. This conclusion -- now supported by numerous observations -- poses the greatest challenge for theoretical physics today. I discuss…
With a view toward application of the Pauli-Villars regularization method to the Casimir energy of boundaries, we calculate the expectation values of the components of the stress tensor of a confined massive field in 1+1 space-time…
We propose a new Dark Energy parametrization based on the dynamics of a scalar field. We use an equation of state $w=(x-1)/(x+1)$, with $x=E_k/V$, the ratio of kinetic energy $E_k=\dot\phi^2/2$ and potential $V$. The eq. of motion gives…
In this article we describe a model of the universe consisting of a mixture of the ordinary matter and a so-called cosmic quaternionic field. The basic idea here consists in an attempt to interpret $\Lambda$ as the energy density of the…
The purpose of this work is to use a renormalized quantum scalar field to investigate very early cosmology, in the Planck era immediately following the big bang. Renormalization effects make the field potential dependent on length scale,…
In recent years different explanations are provided for both an inflation and a recent acceleration in the expansion of the universe. In this Letter we show that a model of physical interest is the modification of general relativity with a…
Quantum field theory in curved spacetimes suffers in general from an infinite ambiguity in the choice of Fock representation and associated vacuum. In cosmological backgrounds, the requirement of a unitary implementation of the field…
The cosmological constant problem is reanalyzed by imposing the limitation of the number of degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) due to entropy bounds directly in the calculation of the energy density of a field theory. It is shown that if a quantum…
We explore the theoretical possibility that dark energy density is derived from the vacuum particle pairs together with the quantum fluctuation of space-time. By assuming the vacuum particle pairs fall into the horizon boundary of the…
It is shown that a first-order relativistic perturbation theory for the open, flat or closed Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe admits one, and only one, gauge-invariant quantity which describes the perturbation to the energy…
Certain exotic phenomena in general relativity, such as backward time travel, appear to require the presence of matter with negative energy. While quantum fields are a possible source of negative energy densities, there are lower bounds -…