Related papers: Vacuum energy and $\theta$--vacuum
We discuss the main myths related to the vacuum energy and cosmological constant, such as: ``unbearable lightness of space-time''; the dominating contribution of zero point energy of quantum fields to the vacuum energy; non-zero vacuum…
In this paper we study a new symmetry argument that results in a vacuum state with strictly vanishing vacuum energy. This argument exploits the well-known feature that de Sitter and Anti- de Sitter space are related by analytic…
In this work, extending a previous study at zero temperature ($T=0$), we perform a systematic study of the modifications to the QCD vacuum energy density $\epsilon_{vac}$ in the finite-temperature case, above the chiral transition at $T_c$,…
The belief still persists, at least for an important part of the community, that in general relativity the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ must remain immaculate. However, Bianchi identities show that $\Lambda$ could acquire local…
There appears to be three, perhaps related, ways of approaching the nature of vacuum energy . The first is to say that it is just the lowest energy state of a given, usually quantum, system. The second is to equate vacuum energy with the…
We define and compute the energy of higher curvature gravity theories in arbitrary dimensions. Generically, these theories admit constant curvature vacua (even in the absence of an explicit cosmological constant), and asymptotically…
We analyse symmetry breaking in general gauge theories paying particular attention to the underlying geometry of the theory. In this context we find two natural metrics upon the vacuum manifold: a Euclidean metric associated with the scalar…
Considering the fundamental cutoff applied by the uncertainty relations' limit on virtual particles' frequency in the quantum vacuum, it is shown that the vacuum energy density is proportional to the inverse of the forth power of the…
We study the spontaneous breaking of discrete symmetries in theories with broken gauge symmetry. The intended application is to CP breaking in theories with gauged flavor symmetries, but the analysis described here is preliminary. We…
It was recently suggested that the cosmological constant problem as viewed in a non-perturbative framework is intimately connected to the choice of time and a physical Hamiltonian. We develop this idea further by calculating the…
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…
We consider a scalar field $\phi$ whose coupling to the kinetic term of a non-abelian gauge field is set at an UV scale $M$. Then the confinement of the gauge sector will induce a $\phi$-dependent vacuum energy which generates a…
The gauge symmetry is one of the most important concepts in modern physics, but there are two conflicting views on its meaning or interpretation. The standard view is that local gauge symmetry is the basis of the pursue of fundamental…
We study vacuum fluctuation properties of an ensemble of $SU(N)$ gauge theory configurations, in the limit of large number of colors, \textit{viz.} $N_c \rightarrow \infty$, and explore statistical nature of the topological susceptibility…
In this letter we address some of the issues raised in the literature about the conflict between a large vacuum energy density, apriori predicted by quantum field theory, and the observed dark energy which must be the energy of vacuum or…
The theoretical vacuum energy density estimated on the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics and very general quantum assumptions is 59 to 123 orders of magnitude larger than the measured vacuum energy density for the observable…
We propose a solution to the longstanding cosmological constant (CC) problem which is based on the fusion of two existing concepts. The first is the suggestion that the proper description of classical gravitational effects is the gauge…
We consider the relationship between the higher symmetry and the dynamical decomposition in supersymmetric gauge theory in various dimensions by studying the semi-classical potential energy. We observe that besides the scalar moduli we…
It is commonly believed that the vacuum energy problem points to the need for (1) a radically new formulation of gravitational physics and (2) a new principle which forces the vacuum stress-energy tensor (as measured by gravity) to be…
We study gauge theories in the context of a gravitational theory without the cosmological constant problem (CCP). The theory is based on the requirement that the measure of integration in the action is not necessarily $\sqrt{-g}$ but it is…