THE NATURE OF THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT PROBLEM

DOI10.1142/S0217751X09044978zbMATH Open1170.83322arXiv0905.3655OpenAlexW3104667496MaRDI QIDQ3397900FDOQ3397900

Authors: M. D. Maia, A. J. S. Capistrano, Edmundo M. Monte 

Publication date: 25 September 2009

Published in: International Journal of Modern Physics A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: General relativity postulates the Minkowski space-time to be the standard flat geometry against which we compare all curved space-times and the gravitational ground state where particles, quantum fields and their vacuum states are primarily conceived. On the other hand, experimental evidences show that there exists a non-zero cosmological constant, which implies in a deSitter space-time, not compatible with the assumed Minkowski structure. Such inconsistency is shown to be a consequence of the lack of a application independent curvature standard in Riemann's geometry, leading eventually to the cosmological constant problem in general relativity. We show how the curvature standard in Riemann's geometry can be fixed by Nash's theorem on locally embedded Riemannian geometries, which imply in the existence of extra dimensions. The resulting gravitational theory is more general than general relativity, similar to brane-world gravity, but where the propagation of the gravitational field along the extra dimensions is a mathematical necessity, rather than being a a postulate. After a brief introduction to Nash's theorem, we show that the vacuum energy density must remain confined to four-dimensional space-times, but the cosmological constant resulting from the contracted Bianchi identity is a gravitational contribution which propagates in the extra dimensions. Therefore, the comparison between the vacuum energy and the cosmological constant in general relativity ceases to be. Instead, the geometrical fix provided by Nash's theorem suggests that the vacuum energy density contributes to the perturbations of the gravitational field.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0905.3655

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zbMATH Keywords

embeddingcosmological constantNash's theorem

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Embeddings and immersions in topological manifolds (57N35) Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05)

Cites Work

• The cosmological constant problem
• The imbedding problem for Riemannian manifolds

Cited In (9)

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Some solutions for one of the cosmological constant problems
• Towards the core of the cosmological constant problem
• The cosmological constant and the coincidence problem in a new cosmological interpretation of the universal constant ``\(c\)
• Searching for a solution to the cosmological constant problem -- a toy model
• ON THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT AND THE COSMIC COINCIDENCE PROBLEM
• Vacuum energy as the origin of the gravitational constant
• The cosmological constant problem and quantum spacetime reference frame
• Inconsistencies from a running cosmological constant

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