2 research outputs found
Dark energy: a quantum fossil from the inflationary Universe?
The discovery of dark energy (DE) as the physical cause for the accelerated
expansion of the Universe is the most remarkable experimental finding of modern
cosmology. However, it leads to insurmountable theoretical difficulties from
the point of view of fundamental physics. Inflation, on the other hand,
constitutes another crucial ingredient, which seems necessary to solve other
cosmological conundrums and provides the primeval quantum seeds for structure
formation. One may wonder if there is any deep relationship between these two
paradigms. In this work, we suggest that the existence of the DE in the present
Universe could be linked to the quantum field theoretical mechanism that may
have triggered primordial inflation in the early Universe. This mechanism,
based on quantum conformal symmetry, induces a logarithmic,
asymptotically-free, running of the gravitational coupling. If this evolution
persists in the present Universe, and if matter is conserved, the general
covariance of Einstein's equations demands the existence of dynamical DE in the
form of a running cosmological term whose variation follows a power law of the
redshift.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, extended discussion. References added. Accepted in
J. Phys. A: Mathematical and Theoretica
Relaxing Neutrino Mass Bounds by a Running Cosmological Constant.
We establish an indirect link between relic neutrinos and the dark energy
sector which originates from the vacuum energy contributions of the neutrino
quantum fields. Via renormalization group effects they induce a running of the
cosmological constant with time which dynamically influences the evolution of
the cosmic neutrino background. We demonstrate that the resulting reduction of
the relic neutrino abundance allows to largely evade current cosmological
neutrino mass bounds and discuss how the scenario might be probed by the help
of future large scale structure surveys and Planck data.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. References added, typos corrected. Matches
version accepted by JCA