The Value of the Cosmological Constant

Abstract

We make the cosmological constant, Λ, into a field and restrict the variations of the action with respect to it by causality. This creates an additional Einstein constraint equation. It restricts the solutions of the standard Einstein equations and is the requirement that the cosmological wave function possess a classical limit. When applied to the Friedmann metric it requires that the cosmological constant measured today, t_{U}, be Λ ~ t_{U}^(-2) ~ 10^(-122), as observed. This is the classical value of Λ that dominates the wave function of the universe. Our new field equation determines Λ in terms of other astronomically measurable quantities. Specifically, it predicts that the spatial curvature parameter of the universe is Ω_{k0} \equiv -k/a_(0)^(2)H^2= -0.0055, which will be tested by Planck Satellite data. Our theory also creates a new picture of self-consistent quantum cosmological history.

6 pages. This article received Third Prize in the 2011 Gravity Research Foundation Awards for Essays on Gravitation

References in corpus (3)

• TASI Lectures on the Cosmological Constant
• Prediction and explanation in the multiverse
• Eternal inflation predicts that time will end

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