Related papers: Quantum Relaxation of the Cosmological Constant
We exhibit a mechanism which dynamically adjusts cosmological constant toward $0^+$. The adjustment is quantum-mechanical, discharging cosmological constant in random discrete steps. It renders de Sitter space unstable, and triggers its…
We consider a dynamical approach to the cosmological constant. There is a scalar field with a potential whose minimum occurs at a generic, but negative, value for the vacuum energy, and it has a non-standard kinetic term whose coefficient…
We present a model that naturally tunes a large positive cosmological constant to a small cosmological constant. A slowly rolling scalar field decreases the cosmological constant to a small negative value, causing the universe to contract,…
Within conventional big bang cosmology, it has proven to be very difficult to understand why today's cosmological constant is so small. In this paper, we show that a cyclic model of the universe can naturally incorporate a dynamical…
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…
The general thermodynamic analysis of the quantum vacuum, which is based on our knowledge of the vacua in condensed-matter systems, is consistent with the Einstein earlier view on the cosmological constant. In the equilibrium Universes the…
The present paper seeks to construct a quantum theory of the cosmological constant in which its presently observed very small value emerges naturally.
The cosmological constant problem is examined under the assumption that the extrinsic curvature of the space-time contributes to the vacuum. A compensation mechanism based on a variable cosmological term is proposed. Under a suitable…
A mechanism is introduced to reduce a large cosmological constant to a sufficiently small value consistent with observational upper limit. The basic ingradient in this mechanism is a distinction which has been made between the two unit…
A mechanism for suppressing the cosmological constant is developed, based on an analogy with a superconducting phaseshift in which free fermions coupled perturbatively to a weak gravitational field are in an unstable false vacuum state. The…
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…
A finite and unitary nonlocal formulation of quantum gravity is applied to the cosmological constant problem. The entire functions in momentum space at the graviton-standard model particle loop vertices generate an exponential suppression…
The Cosmological Constant Problem emerges when Quantum Field Theory is applied to the gravitational theory, due to the enormous magnitude of the induced energy of the vacuum. The unique known solution of this problem involves an extremely…
I describe an approach which connects classical gravity with the quantum microstructure of spacetime. The field equations arise from maximizing the density of states of matter plus geometry. The former is identified using the thermodynamics…
We reanalyze the problem of the cosmological constant associated with the phase transition in a self-interacting scalar theory. It is pointed out that the generally accepted ``triviality'' of $(\lambda\Phi^4)_4$ implies a first-order phase…
In the quantum adelic field (string) theory models, vacuum energy -- cosmological constant vanish. The other (alternative ?) mechanism is given by supersymmetric theories. Some observations on prime numbers, zeta -- function and fine…
The cosmological constant problem is reviewed and a possible quantum gravity resolution is proposed. A space satellite E\"otv\"os experiment for zero-point vacuum energy is proposed to see whether Casimir vacuum energy falls in a…
We consider the standard model with local scale invariance. The theory shows exact scale invariance of dimensionally regulated action. We show that massless gauge fields, which may be abelian or non-abelian, lead to vanishing contribution…
We introduce the notion of background independent quantum field theory. The distinguishing feature of this theory is that the dynamics can be formulated without recourse to a background metric structure. We show in a simple model how the…
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…