| Speaker: | Frans Klinkhamer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) |
|---|---|
| Title: | New approach to the cosmological constant problem: q-theory |
| Date (JST): | Tue, May 18, 2010, 15:30 - 16:30 |
| Place: | Seminar Room A |
| Related File: | 236.pdf |
| Abstract: |
A brief introduction to the famous "cosmological constant problem" is given. Then, a particular approach is discussed, which has been developed by Volovik and the present speaker over the last years. The basic idea is that the standard model of elementary particle physics and the theory of general relativity can be extended by the introduction of a vacuum variable which is responsible for the near vanishing of the present cosmological constant (vacuum energy density). The explicit realization of this vacuum variable can be via a three-form gauge field, an aether-type velocity field, or any other field appropriate for the description of the equilibrium state corresponding to the Lorentz-invariant quantum vacuum. The extended theory has, without fine-tuning, a Minkowski-type solution of the field equations with spacetime-independent fields and, thereby, provides a possible solution of the main cosmological constant problem. Other problems are briefly discussed, in particular, the so-called cosmic coincidence problem. |
| Contact: | Mukohyama |
