Related papers: The Cosmological Flatness Problem and Limits on Da…
The cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is a free parameter in Einstein's equations of gravity. We propose to fix its value with a boundary condition: test particles should be free when outside causal contact, e.g. at infinity. Under this…
Cosmic acceleration is explained quantitatively, as an apparent effect due to gravitational energy differences that arise in the decoupling of bound systems from the global expansion of the universe. "Dark energy" is a misidentification of…
In addressing the cosmological constant problem, we propose that the discrepancy between the theoretical and observed values can be ascribed to the inherent uncertainty in the spacetime metric. Mach's principle, which posits that mass…
Quantum fluctuations of a real massless scalar field are studied in the context of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). The dynamical finite vacuum energy is found in spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson- Walker (FRW) spacetime which…
A time-dependent dark energy component of the Universe may be able to explain tensions between local and primordial measurements of cosmological parameters, shaking current confidence in the concept of a cosmological constant.
We investigate the gravitational property of the quantum vacuum by treating its large energy density predicted by quantum field theory seriously and assuming that it does gravitate to obey the equivalence principle of general relativity. We…
Recent observations confirm that our universe is flat and consists of a dark energy component $\Omega_{DE}\simeq 0.7$. This dark energy is responsible for the cosmic acceleration as well as determines the feature of future evolution of the…
The Standard Cosmological Model of the 1980's is no more. I describe the definitive evidence that the density of matter is insufficient to result in a flat universe, as well as the mounting evidence that the cosmological constant is not…
Cosmology at present provides the nominally strongest constraint on the masses of standard model neutrinos. However, this constraint extremely dependent on the nature of the dark energy component of the Universe. When the dark energy…
I review the problem of dark energy focusing on the cosmological constant as the candidate and discuss its implications for the nature of gravity. Part 1 briefly overviews the currently popular `concordance cosmology' and summarises the…
The smallness of the cosmological constant is one of the basic problems in particle physics and cosmology. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been found yet. The appearance of extra…
Observational evidence of dark energy that makes the Universe nearly flat at the present epoch is very strong. We study the link between spatial continuity and dark energy. We assume that comoving space is a compact 3-manifold of constant…
Based on dramatic observations of the CMB with WMAP and of Type Ia supernovae with the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based facilities, it is now generally believed that the Universe's expansion is accelerating. Within the context of…
There is a puzzling contradiction: direct observations favor a low-mass-density universe ($0.2\le\Omega_m\le0.6$), but the only model which fits universe structure over more than three orders of magnitude in distance scale has a mix of hot…
We use current observations on the number statistics of gravitationally lensed optical arcs towards galaxy clusters to derive an upper limit on the cosmological mass density of the Universe. The gravitational lensing statistics due to…
The currently available cosmological data yield, as a most striking result, that the expansion rate of the universe seems to be increasing at late times, contrary to the standard (zero cosmological constant) FLRW prediction. The usual…
Current observational bounds on dark energy depend on assumptions about the curvature of the universe. We present a simple and efficient method for incorporating constraints from CMB anisotropy data, and use it to derive constraints on…
The discovery of accelerated cosmic expansion implies that, in addition to the attractive gravity of matter, there exists in our universe some other form of energy (dark energy or cosmological constant) producing a repulsive force. The…
It is demonstrated that entropy and its density play a significant role in solving the problem of the vacuum energy density (cosmological constant) of the Universe and hence the dark energy problem. Taking this in mind, two most popular…
By studying the present cosmological data, particularly on CMB, SNeIA and LSS, we find that the future fate of the universe, for simple linear models of the dark energy equation-of-state, can vary between the extremes of (I) a divergence of…