Related papers: Mass Boom Versus Big Bang: The Role of Planck's Co…
The possibility that the expansion rate of the Universe, as reflected by the Red Shift, could be produced by the existence of the dilaton field is explored. The analysis starts from previously studied solutions of the Einstein equations for…
We discuss the cosmological constant puzzle and possible connections to the (meta-)stability of the Higgs vacuum suggested by recent LHC results. A possible explanation involves new critical phenomena in the ultraviolet, close to the Planck…
The standard model of cosmology posits that some time in the remote past, labelled as t=0, a Big-Bang occurred. However, it does not tell what caused the Big-Bang and subsequently the Inflation. In the present work the cause of the Big-Bang…
A major recent evelopment in observational cosmology has been an accurate measurement of the luminosity distance-redshift relation out to redshifts z=0.8 from Type Ia supernova standard candles. The results have been argued as evidence for…
A quantum expansion parameter, analogous to the Hubble parameter in cosmology, is defined for a free particle quantum wavefunction. By considering the universe as an initial single Gaussian quantum wavepacket whose mass is that of…
We revisit a scenario in which the cosmological constant is cancelled by the potential energy of a slowly evolving scalar field, or "cosmon". The cosmon's evolution is tied to the cosmological constant by a feedback mechanism. This feedback…
From an observational perspective cosmology is today in excellent shape - advances in instrumentation and data processing have enabled us to study the universe in detail back to when the first galaxies formed, map the fluctuations in the…
KKLT give a mechanism to generate de Sitter vacua in string theory. And recently, the scenario, {\em landscape}, is suggested to explain the problem of the cosmological constant. In this scenario, the cosmological constant is a de Sitter…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), along with the cosmic background radiation and the Hubble expansion, is one of the pillars ofthe standard, hot, big bang cosmology since the primordial synthesis of the light nuclides (D, $^3$He, $^4$He,…
After a short history of the $\Lambda$-term it is explained why the (effective) cosmological constant is expected to obtain contributions from short-distance physics, corresponding to an energy at least as large as the Fermi scale. The…
The traditional "explanation" for the observed acceleration of the universe is the existence of a positive cosmological constant. However, this can hardly be a truly convincing explanation, as an expanding universe is not expected to have a…
The most exciting future observation in cosmology will feature a monitoring of the cosmic expansion in real time, unlike anything that has ever been attempted before. This campaign will uncover crucial physical properties of the various…
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…
It is shown here that a dynamical Planck mass can drive the scale factor of the universe to accelerate. The negative pressure which drives the cosmic acceleration is identified with the unusual kinetic energy density of the Planck field. No…
We study a five-dimensional cosmological model, which suggests that the universe bagan as a discontinuity in a (Higgs-type) scalar field, or alternatively as a conventional four-dimensional phase transition.
I suggest that the Spin-Statistics connection is a consequence of the phase shifts on quantum scattering amplitudes due to the induced gravitomagnetic field of the whole Universe at critical density. This connection was recently brought out…
We develop a cosmological theory in which the evolution of the universe is controlled by the cosmological constant and dominated by the associated vacuum energy. The universe starts as a classical de Sitter space with an infinite effective…
Over the last 20 years, supernovae have become a key tool to constrain the expansion history of the Universe through the construction of Hubble diagrams, using luminosity distances to supernovae belonging to the "Ia" subtype. This technique…
We develop a new model for the Universe based on two key assumptions: first, the inertial energy of the Universe is a constant, and second, the total energy of a particle, the inertial plus the gravitational potential energy produced by the…
Plausible cause and effect of the big bang model are presented without violating conventional laws of physics. The initial cosmological singularity is resolved by introducing the uncertainty principle of quantum theory. We postulate that,…