de Sitter-invariant special relativity and the dark energy problem

Abstract

The replacement of the Poincaré-invariant Einstein special relativity by a de Sitter-invariant special relativity produces concomitant changes in all relativistic theories, including general relativity. A crucial change in the latter is that both the background de Sitter curvature and the gravitational dynamical curvature turns out to be included in a single curvature tensor. This means that the cosmological term no longer explicitly appears in Einstein equation, and is consequently not restricted to be constant. In this paper, the Newtonian limit of such theory is obtained, and the ensuing Newtonian Friedmann equations are show to provide a good account of the dark energy content of the present-day universe.

14 pages. Accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Grav. V2: a few corrections and small presentation changes