Related papers: The Cosmological Flatness Problem and Limits on Da…
Associated with the cosmic acceleration are the old and new cosmological constant problems, recently put into the more general context of the dark energy problem. In broad terms, the old problem is related to an unexpected order of…
The age of the Universe at a given redshift is a fundamental relationship in cosmology. For many years, the uncertainties in it were dauntingly large, close to a factor of 2. In this age of precision cosmology, they are now at the percent…
In a recent paper (Phys. Rev. D95, 103504 (2017)) it is argued that, due to the fluctuations around its mean value, vacuum energy gravitates differently from what previously assumed. As a consequence, the universe would accelerate with a…
The evidence for the accelerated expansion of the universe and the time-dependence of the fine-structure constant suggests the existence of at least one scalar field with a mass of order H_0. If such a field exists, then it is generally…
Entropy bounds render quantum corrections to the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ finite. Under certain assumptions, the natural value of $\Lambda$ is of order the observed dark energy density $\sim 10^{-10} {\rm eV}^4$, thereby resolving…
We find that if we live at the center of an inhomogeneity with total density contrast of roughly 0.1, dark energy is not a cosmological constant at 95% confidence level. Observational constraints on the equation of state of dark energy, w,…
The so called `cosmic coincidence' problem seems to suggest a coupling between dark energy and dark matter. A possibility could be given by dark matter particles with masses depending exponentially on the scalar field associated to dark…
Within the context of standard cosmology, an accelerating universe requires the presence of a third `dark' component of energy, beyond matter and radiation. The available data, however, are still deemed insufficient to distinguish between…
One of main sources of uncertainty in modern cosmology is the present rate of the universe's expansion, H0, called the Hubble constant. Once again, different observational techniques bring about different results, causing new 'Hubble…
The fact that the energy densities of dark energy and matter are similar currently, known as the coincidence problem, is one of the main unsolved problems of cosmology. We present here a model in which a spatial curvature of the universe…
It has been shown that the new Self Creation Cosmology theory predicts a universe with a total density parameter of one third yet spatially flat, which would appear to accelerate in its expansion. Although requiring a moderate amount of…
We use the quantum unimodular theory of gravity to relate the value of the cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, and the energy scale for the emergence of cosmological classicality. The fact that $\Lambda$ and unimodular time are complementary…
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…
We discuss the evolution of the Universe from what might be called its quantum origin. We apply the uncertainty principle to the origin of the Universe with characteristic time scale equal to the Planck time to obtain its initial…
The "cosmic triangle" is introduced as a way of representing the past, present, and future status of the universe. Our current location within the cosmic triangle is determined by the answers to three questions: How much matter is in the…
Although well motivated from theoretical arguments, the cosmological constant \emph{barrier}, i.e., the imposition that the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy ($\omega_x \equiv p_x/\rho_x$) is $\geq -1$, seems to introduce bias in…
The mystery of the cosmological constant is probably the most pressing obstacle to significantly improving the models of elementary particle physics derived from string theory. The problem arises because in the standard framework of low…
Standard cosmology has long been plagued by a number of persistent problems. The origin of the apparent acceleration of the cosmic expansion remains enigmatic. The cosmological constant has been reintroduced as a free parameter with a value…
Rising to Mach, the problem of establishing the unity of the physical essence of the Universe on all space-time scales of its evolution is, apparently, one of the main problems in contemporary epistemology. The issues are primarily related…
The cosmic spacetime is often described in terms of the FRW metric, though the adoption of this elegant and convenient solution to Einstein's equations does not tell us much about the equation of state, p=w rho, in terms of the total energy…