Related papers: What If w < -1 ?
One of the main virtues of string gas cosmology is that it resolves cosmological singularities. Since the Universe can be approximated by a locally asymptotically de Sitter spacetime by the end of the inflationary era, a singularity theorem…
We focus on uncertainties in supernova measurements, in particular of individual magnitudes and redshifts, to review to what extent supernovae measurements of the expansion history of the universe are likely to allow us to constrain a…
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…
The nonlinear oscillations of a scalar field are shown to have cosmological equations of state with $w = p / \rho$ ranging from $-1 < w < 1$. We investigate the possibility that the dark energy is due to such oscillations.
We present a nonparametric method to determine the sign of $w+1$ in the equation of state of dark energy. It is based on geometrical behaviour and is more tolerant to uncertainties of other cosmological parameters than fitting methods. It…
There is some evidence that the Universe is presently undergoing accelerating expansion. This has restored some credit to the scenarios with a non-vanishing cosmological constant. From the point of view of a theory of fundamental…
Various contributions to the cosmological constant are discussed and confronted with its recent measurement. We briefly review different scenarious -- and their difficulties -- for a solution of the cosmological constant problem.
We show that the latest empirical constraints on cosmology, from a combination of DESI, CMB and supernova data, can be accounted for if a small component of dark matter has an evolving and oscillating equation of state within $-1<w<1$. From…
We point out that theories of cosmological acceleration which have equation of state, w, such that 1+w is small but positive may still secretly violate the null energy condition. This violation implies the existence of observers for whom…
Recent determinations of the equation of state of dark energy hint that this may well be of the phantom type, i.e., $w_{de} < -1$. If confirmed by future experiments, this would strongly point to the existence of fields that violate the…
Quintom models, with its Equation of State being able to cross the cosmological constant boundary $w=-1$, turns out to be attractive for phenomenological study. It can not only be applicable for dark energy model for current universe, but…
One hope to solve the cosmological constant problem is to identify a symmetry principle, based on which the cosmological constant can be reduced either to zero, or to a tiny value. Here, we note that requiring that the vacuum state is…
The critical issue in cosmology today lies in determining if the cosmological constant is the underlying ingredient of dark energy. Our profound lack of understanding of the physics of dark energy places severe constrains on our ability to…
We argue that, when a theory of gravity and matter is endowed with (classical) conformal symmetry, the fine tuning required to obtain the cosmological constant at its observed value can be significantly reduced. Once tuned, the cosmological…
The quantum field theory prediction of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude higher than the observed value. This is known as the cosmological constant problem. Here, we deal with the cosmological constant as a scalar field…
I briefly review the cosmological constant problem and the issue of dark energy (or quintessence). Within the framework of quantum field theory, the vacuum expectation value of the energy momentum tensor formally diverges as $k^4$. A cutoff…
The old cosmological constant problem is to understand why the vacuum energy is so small; the new problem is to understand why it is comparable to the present mass density. Several approaches to these problems are reviewed. Quintessence…
We construct a vacuum of string theory in which the magnitude of the vacuum energy is $< 10^{-123}$ in Planck units. Regrettably, the sign of the vacuum energy is negative, and some supersymmetry remains unbroken.
There are many theories of quantum gravity, depending on asymptotic boundary conditions, and the amount of supersymmetry. The cosmological constant is one of the fundamental parameters that characterize different theories. If it is…
We study the cosmology of canonically normalized scalar fields that lead to an equation of state parameter of w_\phi=p_\phi/\rho_\phi<-1 without violating the weak energy condition: rho=\Sigma_i\rho_i \geq 0 and \rho_i+p_i\geq 0. This kind…