Related papers: Modified Dispersion Relations from Closed Strings …
The problem of dark energy arises due to its self-gravitating properties. Therefore explaining vacuum energy may become a question for the realm of quantum gravity, that can be addressed within string theory context. In this talk I…
There is now strong evidence that the main contribution to the cosmic energy density is not due to matter, but to another component with negative pressure. Its nature is still unknown: it could be the vacuum energy, manifesting itself as a…
We derive strong observational limits on any possible large-scale spatial variation in the values of physical 'constants' whose space-time evolution is driven by a scalar field. The limits are imposed by the isotropy of the microwave…
Disformally coupled cosmologies arise from Dirac-Born-Infeld actions in Type II string theories, when matter resides on a moving hidden sector D-brane. Since such matter interacts only very weakly with the standard model particles, this…
The Schr\"odinger-Newton equation is a proposed model to explain the localization of macroscopic particles by suppressing quantum dispersion with the particle's own gravitational attraction. On cosmic scales, however, dark energy also acts…
We investigate the perihelion shift of the planetary motion and the bending of starlight in the Schwarzschild field modified by the presence of a $\Lambda$-term plus a conical defect. This analysis generalizes an earlier result obtained by…
In string gas cosmology, the extra dimensions of the underlying theory are kept at a microscopic scale by a gas of strings. In the matter-dominated era, however, dust pressure can lead to oscillations of the extra dimensions and to…
Evidence for a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$, derived from the Ly$\alpha$-forest in high-resolution spectra of quasars, leads to a closed, low-density, $\Lambda$-dominated universe. The analysis is based on the assumption of a…
There is a deep tension between the well-developed theory of gravitational waves from isolated systems and the presence of a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$, however tiny. In particular, even the post-Newtonian quadrupole formula,…
After reviewing the cosmological constant problem - why is Lambda not huge? - I outline the two basic approaches that had emerged by the late 1980s, and note that each made a clear prediction. Precision cosmological experiments now indicate…
In this essay, we present a new understanding of the cosmological constant problem, built upon the realization that the vacuum energy density can be expressed in terms of a phase space volume. We introduce a UV-IR regularization which…
We obtain a large class of cosmological solutions in the toroidally-compactified low energy limits of string theories in $D$ dimensions. We consider solutions where a $p$-dimensional subset of the spatial coordinates, parameterising a flat…
The role of Lorentz invariance as a fundamental symmetry of nature has been lately reconsidered in different approaches to quantum gravity. It is thus natural to study whether other puzzles of physics may be solved within these proposals.…
In string theory the coupling ``constants'' appearing in the low-energy effective Lagrangian are determined by the vacuum expectation values of some (a priori) massless scalar fields (dilaton, moduli). This naturally leads one to expect a…
We study the phenomenology of a recent string construction with a quantum mechanically stable dark energy. A mild supersymmetry protects the vacuum energy but also allows $O(10 - 100)$ TeV scale superpartner masses. The construction is…
The cosmological constant (lambda) of general relativity is a natural consequence of embedding Einstein's theory in a five-dimensional theory of the type needed for unification. The exact 5D solution for lambda less than 0 shows waves in…
It has recently been proposed by Mersini et al. 01, Bastero-Gil and Mersini 02 that the dark energy could be attributed to the cosmological properties of a scalar field with a non-standard dispersion relation that decreases exponentially at…
The current standard cosmological model is constructed within the framework of general relativity with a cosmological constant $\Lambda$, which is often associated with dark energy, and phenomenologically explains the accelerated cosmic…
A cosmology of Poincare gauge theory is developed, where several properties of universe corresponding to the cosmological equations with the pseudoscalar torsion function are investigated. The cosmological constant is found to be the…
Although the cosmological constant has primarily cosmological consequences, its smallness poses one of the basic problems in particle physics. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been…