On the Effective Equation of State of Dark Energy

Abstract

In an effective field theory model with an ultraviolet momentum cutoff, there is a relation between the effective equation of state of dark energy and the ultraviolet cutoff scale. It implies that a measure of the equation of state of dark energy different from minus one, does not rule out vacuum energy as dark energy. It also indicates an interesting possibility that precise measurements of the infrared properties of dark energy can be used to probe the ultraviolet cutoff scale of effective quantum field theory coupled to gravity. In a toy model with a vacuum energy dominated universe with a Planck scale cutoff, the dark energy effective equation of state is -0.96.

7 pages, awarded honorable mention in the 2010 Gravity Research Foundation essay competition

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• Cosmology and the Fate of Dilatation Symmetry
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Dynamical vacuum energy in the expanding Universe confronted with observations: a dedicated study
• Zero-point quantum fluctuations in cosmology
• Galaxy cluster angular size data constraints on dark energy
• Vacuum fluctuations in a supersymmetric model in FRW spacetime
• Vacuum fluctuations of the supersymmetric field in curved background
• Supersymmetric dark energy
• Ultraviolet sensitivity of the cosmological sequester