Related papers: Vacuum Energy: "If Not Now, Then When?"
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…
The cosmological constant problem is the principal obstacle in the attempt to interpret dark energy as the quantum vacuum energy. We suggest that the obstacle can be removed, i.e. that the cosmological constant problem can be resolved by…
The canonical cosmological model to explain the recent acceleration of the universe relies on a cosmological constant, and most dynamical dark energy and modified gravity model alternatives are based on scalar fields. Still, further…
A new mechanism of adjustment of vacuum energy down to the observed value from an initially huge one is considered. The mechanism is based on a very strong variation of the gravitational coupling constant in very early universe. The model…
The cosmological constant (CC) problem is the biggest enigma of theoretical physics ever. In recent times, it has been rephrased as the dark energy problem in order to encompass a wider spectrum of possibilities. It is, in any case, a…
The energy densities of matter and the vacuum are currently observed to be of the same order of magnitude: $(\Omega_{m 0} \approx 0.3) \sim (\Omega_{\Lambda 0} \approx 0.7)$. The cosmological window of time during which this occurs is…
The inhomogeneous cosmological model with matter in the form self-acting scalar field and perfect fluid is considered. On the basis of exact solutions is considered the evolution of density distribution of a matter in space on a background…
We consider a flat Universe filled with a vacuum energy coupled to matter and radiation by respectively positive coupling functions $Q_m$ and $Q_r$. We require that these functions be such as Universe exits from inflation to go to a…
Recent LHC results concerning the mass of the Higgs boson indicate that the vacuum in our Universe may be unstable. We analyze properties of unstable vacuum states from the point of view of the quantum theory of unstable states. From the…
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…
In this thesis the cosmological constant is investigated from two points of view. First, we study the influence of a time-dependent cosmological constant on the late-time expansion of the universe. Thereby, we consider several combinations…
We construct a time dependent adjustment mechanism for the cosmological "constant" which could be at work in a late Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe dominated by quintessence and matter. It makes use of a Brans-Dicke field that couples…
There exists in General Relativity an unambiguous notion of Mass associated to asymptotically flat spacetimes known as the ADM mass. The standard expression for the same is a surface integral over spatial infinity of a linear combination of…
Cosmologists have long wondered whether the Universe will eventually re-collapse and end with a Big Crunch, or expand forever, becoming increasingly cold and empty. Recent evidence for a flat Universe, possibly with a cosmological constant…
The present day observations favour a universe which is flat, accelerated and composed of $\sim 1/3$ matter (baryonic + dark) and $\sim 2/3$ of a negative pressure component, usually referred to as dark energy or quintessence. The Cosmic…
Shortly the vacuum component of the Universe from the geometry point of view and from the point of view of the standard model of physics of elementary particles is discussed. Some arguments are given to the calculated value of the…
We present a simple quantum-mechanical estimate of the cosmological constant of a Newtonian Universe. We first mimic the dynamics of a Newtonian spacetime by means of a nonrelativistic quantum mechanics for the matter contents of the…
The physical Hamiltonian of a gravity-matter system depends on the choice of time, with the vacuum naturally identified as its ground state. We study the expanding universe with scalar field in the volume time gauge. We show that the vacuum…
We show that a cosmology driven by gravitationally induced particle production of all non-relativistic species existing in the present Universe mimics exactly the observed flat accelerating $\Lambda$CDM cosmology with just one dynamical…
Flat cosmological models with a cosmological constant on the order of the Einstein-de Sitter critical density are enigmatic in the sense that there does not appear to be any natural explanation for why there should be a cosmological…