THE CASE FOR A POSITIVE COSMOLOGICAL Λ-TERM
Open accessAbstract
Recent observations of Type 1a supernovae indicating an accelerating universe have once more drawn attention to the possible existence, at the present epoch, of a small positive Λ-term (cosmological constant). In this paper we review both observational and theoretical aspects of a small cosmological Λ-term. We discuss the current observational situation focusing on cosmological tests of Λ including the age of the universe, high redshift supernovae, gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering and the cosmic microwave background. We also review the theoretical debate surrounding Λ: the generation of Λ in models with spontaneous symmetry breaking and through quantum vacuum polarization effects — mechanisms which are known to give rise to a large value of Λ hence leading to the "cosmological constant problem." More recent attempts to generate a small cosmological constant at the present epoch using either field theoretic techniques, or by modelling a dynamical Λ-term by scalar fields are also extensively discussed. Anthropic arguments favouring a small Λ-term are briefly reviewed. A comprehensive bibliography of recent work on Λ is provided.
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The cosmological constant can be cast as an effective cosmic fluid with equation of state minus one, which coincides with the equation of state of vacuum energy associated with zero-level quantum fluctuations.
“The cosmological constant can be cast into the model as an effective cosmic fluid with an equation of state of minus one. This coincides exactly with the equation of state of the vacuum energy associated with zero-level quantum fluctuations.”
From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Sahni and Starobinsky 2000
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- Authors
- SAHNI, V., & STAROBINSKY, A.
- Affiliations
- IUCAA – Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Post Bag 4, Ganeshkind, Pune 411007, India
- Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (RU)
- ORCID
- STAROBINSKY, ALEXEI
- Venue
- International Journal of Modern Physics D
- Publisher
- World Scientific Pub Co Pte Ltd
- Published
- 2000-08
- Volume
- 09
- Issue
- 04
- Pages
- 373-443
- ISSN
- 0218-2718 (ISSN-L)
- 1793-6594
- OpenAlex
- W2591817099
- Cited by
- 2,767
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 100 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 125 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 107 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 95 · 2019: 108 · 2018: 101 · 2017: 118 · 2016: 141 · 2015: 108 · 2014: 130 · 2013: 125 · 2012: 141
- FWCI
- 37.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Modern Physics D (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Keywords
- cosmological constant, positive cosmological constant, Type Ia supernovae, cosmic acceleration, age of the universe, high-redshift supernovae, gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering, cosmic microwave background, spontaneous symmetry breaking, cosmological constant problem, dynamical dark energy, scalar field models, anthropic principle
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