New Solution of the Cosmological Constant Problems

John D. Barrow and Douglas J. Shaw
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 101302 – Published 11 March 2011

Abstract

We extend the usual gravitational action principle by promoting the bare cosmological constant (CC) to a field which can take many possible values. Variation gives a new integral constraint equation for the classical value of the effective CC that dominates the wave function of the Universe. The expected value of the effective CC, is calculated from measurable quantities to be O(tU2) as observed, where tU is the present age of the Universe in Planck units. This also leads to a falsifiable prediction for the observed spatial curvature parameter of Ωk0=0.0055. Our proposal requires no fine-tunings or extra dark-energy fields but suggests a new view of time evolution.

  • Received 20 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.101302

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

John D. Barrow and Douglas J. Shaw

  • DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 106, Iss. 10 — 11 March 2011

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