Related papers: Devaluation: a dynamical mechanism for a naturally…
The cosmological constant problem is studied in a two component cosmological model. The universe contains a cosmological constant of an arbitrary size and sign and an additional component with an inhomogeneous equation of state. It is shown…
Deconstruction provides a novel way of dealing with the notoriously difficult ultraviolet problems of four-dimensional gravity. This approach also naturally leads to a new perspective on the holographic principle, tying it to the…
A central aspect of the cosmological constant problem is to understand why vacuum energy does not gravitate. In order to account for this observation, while allowing for nontrivial dynamics of the quantum vacuum, we motivate a novel…
The cosmological constant induced by quantum fluctuation of the graviton on a given background is considered as a tool for building a spectrum of different geometries. In particular, we apply the method to the Schwarzschild background with…
After inflation occurs, a weakly coupled scalar field will in general not be in thermal equilibrium but have a distribution of values determined by the inflationary Hubble parameter. If such a field subsequently undergoes discrete symmetry…
We have critically compared different approaches to the cosmological constant problem, which is at the edge of elementary particle physics and cosmology. This problem is deeply connected with the difficulties formulating a theory of quantum…
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 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 study a class of non-local, action-based, and purely gravitational models. These models seek to describe a cosmology in which inflation is driven by a large, bare cosmological constant that is screened by the self-gravitation between the…
The concordance model of cosmology suffers from the major theoretical problems surrounding the observed value and recent emergence of a cosmological constant. In this paper we present a novel approach, which explains more naturally its…
A mechanism of inflation from higher dimensions compactification is studied. An Early Universe capable of providing exponential growth for some dimensions and exponential contraction for others, giving therefore an explanation for the big…
The solution of the field equations of the conformal theory of gravitation with Dirac scalar field in Cartan-Weyl spacetime at the very early Universe is obtained. In this theory dark energy (describing by an effective cosmological…
We propose a technically natural scenario whereby an initially large cosmological constant (c.c.) is relaxed down to the observed value due to the dynamics of a scalar evolving on a very shallow potential. The model crucially relies on a…
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…
Under the assumption that the cosmological constant vanishes in the true ground state with lowest possible energy density, we argue that the observed small but finite vacuum-like energy density can be explained if we consider a theory with…
The cosmological constant (term) is the simplest way, presently known, to illustrate the accelerating expansion of the universe. However, because of/despite its simple appearance, there is much confusion surrounding its essence. Theorists…
A new model of oscillators was suggested, in which an oscillating particle in the minimum energy state has a nonzero velocity. A system consisting of a point material particle and a scalar field described by the nonlinear Klein-Gordon…
On the occasion of a century from the proposal of General relativity by Einstein, I attempt to tackle some open issues in modern cosmology, via a toy but non-trivial model. Specifically, I would like to link together: (i) the smallness of…
We discuss predictions for cosmology which result from the scaling solution of functional flow equations for a quantum field theory of gravity. A scaling solution is necessary to render quantum gravity renormalizable. Our scaling solution…
Astronomical observations indicate an accelerated cosmic expansion, the cause of which is explained by the action of `dark energy'. Here we show that in discrete expanding space-time, only a tiny fraction of the vacuum fluctuations can…