Related papers: Can a pseudo-symmetry solve the cosmological const…
In this article the cosmological constant problems, as well as the astronomical evidence for a cosmologically significant homogeneous exotic energy density with negative pressure (quintessence), are reviewed for a broad audience of…
We introduce the concept of pseudo-reality for complex numbers. We show that this concept, applied to quantum fields, provides a unifying framework for two distinct approaches to pseudo-Hermitian quantum field theories. The first approach…
Standard quantum field theory arguments predict an enormous cosmological constant. But what would this mean observationally? For a homogeneous universe the answer is clear, but if the universe is inhomogeneous at the Planck scale, the…
We point out several subtleties arising in brane-world scenarios of cosmological constant cancellation. We show that solutions with curvature singularities are inconsistent, unless the contribution to the effective four-dimentional…
A finite quantum gravity theory is used to resolve the cosmological constant problem. A fundamental quantum gravity scale, \Lambda_G \leq 10^{-3} eV, is introduced above which the quantum corrections to the vacuum energy density coupled to…
Recent astrophysical observations seem to indicate that the cosmological constant is small but nonzero and positive. The old cosmological constant problem asks why it is so small; we must now ask, in addition, why it is nonzero (and is in…
We propose a supersymmetrisation of the cosmological constant in ordinary $N=1$ supergravity that breaks supersymmetry spontaneously by a constant Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term associated to a $U(1)$ symmetry. This term is a variation of a new…
In this essay we offer a comprehensible overview of the gravitational aether scenario. This is a possible extension of Einstein's theory of relativity to the quantum regime via an effective approach. Quantization of gravity usually faces…
Alternative forms of the solutions to the quantum field equations and their implications for physical theory are considered. Incorporation of these alternative solution forms, herein deemed "supplemental solutions", into the development of…
A mechanism for suppressing the cosmological constant is described, using a superconducting analogy in which fermions coupled to gravitons are in an unstable false vauum. The coupling of the fermions to gravitons and a screened attractive…
The harmonic oscillator in pseudo euclidean space is studied. A straightforward procedure reveals that although such a system may have negative energy, it is stable. In the quantized theory the vacuum state has to be suitably defined and…
It is well-known that quantum field theory (QFT) induces a huge value of the cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, which is outrageously inconsistent with cosmological observations. We review here some aspects of this fundamental theoretical…
We consider supersymmetry breaking models with a purely constant superpotential in supergravity. The supersymmetry breaking is induced for the vanishing cosmological constant. As a hidden mediation sector of supersymmetry breaking, it…
The hypothesis is proposed that under the approximation that the quantum equations of motion reduce to the classical ones, the quantum vacuum also reduces to the classical vacuum--the empty space. The vacuum energy of QED is studied under…
Two different realizations of a symmetry principle that impose a zero cosmological constant in an extra-dimensional set-up are studied. The symmetry is identified by multiplication of the metric by minus one. In the first realization of the…
We discuss the notion that quantum fields may induce an effective time-dependent cosmological constant which decays from a large initial value. It is shown that such cosmological models are viable in a non-de Sitter spacetime.
Varying physical constant cosmologies were claimed to solve standard cosmological problems such as the horizon, the flatness and the $\Lambda$-problem. In this paper, we suggest yet another possible application of these theories: solving…
We generalize the standard model of particle physics such it displays global scale invariance. The gravitational action is also suitably modified such that it respects this symmetry. This model is interesting since the cosmological constant…
A diverse set of observations now compellingly suggest that Universe possesses a nonzero cosmological constant. In the context of quantum-field theory a cosmological constant corresponds to the energy density of the vacuum, and the wanted…
The action for gravity and the standard model includes, as well as the positive energy fermion and boson fields, negative energy fields. The Hamiltonian for the action leads through a positive and negative energy symmetry of the vacuum to a…