Related papers: Can QCD Axions Survive the Cosmological Constant P…
The flatness and cosmological constant problems are solved with varying speed of light c, gravitational coupling strength G and cosmological parameter Lambda, by explicitly assuming energy conservation of observed matter. The present…
We present a broad and simple class of scalar-tensor scenarios that successfully realize dynamical damping of the effective cosmological constant, therefore providing a viable dynamical solution to the fine-tuning or "old" cosmological…
One possible solution of the cosmological constant problem involves a so-called $q$-field, which self-adjusts so as to give a vanishing gravitating vacuum energy density (cosmological constant) in equilibrium. We show that this $q$-field…
Recently, there have been claims in the literature that the cosmological constant problem can be dynamically solved by specific compactifications of gravity from higher-dimensional toy models. These models have the novel feature that in the…
Light QCD axions, introduced to solve the strong CP problem, may form condensates inside neutron stars, giving rise to a novel ground state of dense matter. We investigate how such axion condensates modify the equilibrium structure and…
Conventionally, the strong-$CP$ problem is assumed to be a naturalness puzzle, with the axion solution sometimes viewed as an ad hoc fix. Gravity is either ignored or taken as a threat for the global Peccei-Quinn symmetry. We explain that…
A deeper understanding of the vacuum structure in QCD invites one to rethink certain aspects of the axion physics. The recent advances are mostly due to developments in supersymmetric gauge theories and the brane theory, in which QCD can be…
We investigate non phantom tracker scalar field models as dynamical dark energy scenario. These models can alleviate the cosmic coincidence problem and transition to a cosmological constant-like behaviour at late times. Focusing on the…
Axions have emerged as compelling candidates for describing the dark sector of the Universe. In this work, we explore quintessence models inspired by axion-like potentials as a dynamical alternative to the cosmological constant. These…
A QCD axion with a decay constant below $ 10 ^{ 11} ~{\rm GeV} $ is a strongly-motivated extension to the Standard Model, though its relic abundance from the misalignment mechanism or decay of cosmic defects is insufficient to explain the…
Loop Quantum Cosmology strongly modifies the high-energy dynamics of Friedman-Robertson-Walker models and removes the big-bang singularity. We investigate how LQC corrections affect the stability properties of the Einstein static universe.…
In particle physics and cosmology, the dilaton is an hypothetical scalar field which can explain many physical phenomena. In this framework, we investigate an extended lagrangian of QCD which involves dilatonic degrees of freedom. Our…
We investigate two simplified non-singular cyclic models with a negative time-varying cosmological constant to represent the non-conventional mechanism of negative cosmological constant expected to address the late-time cosmic acceleration.…
Within the framework of the minimum quadratic Poincare gauge theory of gravity in the Riemann-Cartan spacetime we study the influence of gravitational vacuum energy density (a cosmological constant) on the dynamics of various gravitating…
We discuss a mechanism that induces a time-dependent vacuum energy on cosmological scales. It is based on the instability induced renormalization triggered by the low energy quantum fluctuations in a Universe with a positive cosmological…
One of the major open puzzles in the Standard Model of particle physics is the strong CP problem: although Quantum Chromodynamics allows a CP-violating topological $\theta$-term, experiments constrain its value to be extremely small. The…
In this article the cosmological constant problems, as well as the astronomical evidence for a cosmologically significant homogeneous exotic energy density with negative pressure (quintessence), are reviewed for a broad audience of…
I propose an observationally and theoretically consistent resolution of the cosmological constant problem: $\Lambda$ is a counterterm -- with a running coupling -- that balances the monopole celestial sky average of the kinetic energy of…
The relaxion mechanism is a novel solution to the hierarchy problem. In this first statistical analysis of the relaxion mechanism, we quantify the relative plausibility of a QCD and a non-QCD relaxion model versus the Standard Model with…
We explore two hypotheses. First, the possibility that the quantum vacuum energy density of the Casimir effect contributes to a (local) gravitational vacuum energy density. Second, the possibility that a change in the gravitational coupling…