Dark Energy Cosmology

Robert Caldwell Dartmouth College

INPE Winter School September 12-16, 2005

Cosmic Evolution

Cosmic Acceleration
observations of type 1a supernovae indicate our universe is accelerating

RC, Physics World, May 2005 data: Riess et al, ApJ 607 (2004) 665

Cosmic Acceleration
observations of type 1a supernovae indicate our universe is accelerating

universe contains m, k, 0

k=0 (CMB)

basic picture spatially-flat RW spacetime acceleration due to 0:

Riess et al, ApJ 607 (2004) 665

Cosmological Constant
The Cosmological Constant and the Theory of Elementary Particles
Zeldovich, Sov. Phys. Uspekhi 11 (1968) 381

The genie (0) has been let out of the bottle. A new field of activity arises, namely the determination of 0 The quantum vacuum energy of scalar particles resembles a cosmological constant

Problem: IR phenomenon has UV divergence

Casimir Effect
sketch of basic calculation
oscillator energy energy density

with boundaries change due to plates pressure difference

uniform stress-energy between the plates

Milton, 2001

Casimir Effect: Measurements

Lamoreaux, PRL 78 (1997) 5

Mohideen & Roy, PRL 81 (1998) 4549

Bressi et al, PRL 88 (2002) 041804

Casimir Effect
Vacuum Energy is not Immutable

Casimir Effect in a Weak Gravitational Field

Energy density carried in vacuum fields distorts in response to a weak gravitational field

Caldwell, astro-ph/0209312

Cosmological Constant
Are unattached vacuum loops real? Do they gravitate?

Casimir Effect: a real manifestation of fluctuations of the QED vacuum

Quantum vacuum contributes to inertia
Jaekel, Lambricht, Reynaud, New Astron. Rev. 46 (2002) 727

Casimir effect without the vacuum

Jaffe, PRD 72 (2005) 021301

Constant Problems
Numerous sources of an effective 0 in physics beyond SM Everywhere you look in QFT (even standard model) Symmetry-breaking vacuum energy (Higgs-like fields) Supergravity 3-form (may be quantized) Ways to get rid of it Cancellation (unstable to dynamics) Supersymmetry (broken) Euclidean QG (probabilistic)
Weinberg, Rev Mod Phys 61 (1989) 1

Any physics content? There must be fluctuations!

Ghost Condensation Arkan-Hamed et al, JHEP 0405 (2004) 074

Action Principle

Unimodular gravity

Einstein 1919 Anderson & Finkelstein, Am J. Phys. 39 (1971) 901 van der Bij and van Dam, Physica 116A (1982) 307

a theory of (linear quantum) gravitation subject to symmetries satisfying -det(g)=1

trace:

nearly equivalent formulation of Einsteins GR

Action Principle: Multiplication

Linde, PLB 200 (1988) 272

Two spacetimes, x & y Identical matter content Antipodal symmetry: Result: zero vacuum and trace-free GR

quantum effects? observable consequences?

Action Principle: Subtraction

Kaplan & Sundrum, hep-th/0505265

One spacetime Identical matter content Energy parity symmetry Result: zero vacuum but there are ghosts
ghost sector must be underpopulated classically stable, but QG instability

Slow instability with QG cutoff: 0 ~ 10-3 eV observable consequence: ~30Q breakdown of gravitational potential

Cosmological Constant: a bookmark

Regard 0 as a placeholder until observation, experiment, and theory can determine the underlying physical laws behind the dark energy phenomenon.
Astrophysical phenomena not sensitive to the dark energy:

use 0 as a simple, economical model

Cosmological phenomena sensitive to the dark energy:

Question observations / experiments Test theoretical foundation Search for conflicts with baseline 0 What are the alternatives?

Dark Energy

What is it?
The cosmological constant? A new particle / field? A new aspect of gravitation? A misinterpretation of observations? Astrophysical confusion?

Lives of the Cosmological Constant

1917 1968 Einstein, deSitter Zeldovich

History: Kragh, Cosmology & Controversy

1980s 0 + dark matter or baryonic models

Numerous authors investigated the cosmological consequences of an additional smooth, time-varying component of the cosmic fluid.

Kinematic Tests of Exotic, Flat Cosmological Models

Charlton & Turner, ApJ 313 (1987) 495

Cosmology with a Time-Variable Cosmological Constant

Peebles & Ratra, ApJ 325 (1988) L17

Dark Energy
close the system of equations

evaluate classical tests of cosmology to constrain w

Dark Energy

w: equation-of-state controls the slope of the dark energy curve past: in the simplest model, the dark energy does not play a significant role in cosmic evolution before z~2 present: the time-evolution of w determines the time-evolution of the dark energy future: unknown without a reliable model of the dark energy

Dark Energy
The dark energy phenomena could be due to a new, very-light scalar field.
(-+++)

Why a scalar field? This is arguably the simplest method of introducing new physics within the well-tested framework of quantum physics. Due to the similarity of the dark energy phenomena with inflation, it seems plausible that a similar mechanism is responsible. Scalar fields, while not necessarily fundamental, are ubiquitous in theories beyond the standard model of particle physics.

Dark Energy
The scalar field is a pioneer, sent out to explore new worlds of physics!
Waves, Optics Electrodynamics Quantum Mechanics Scalar QED Field Theory Symmetry Breaking Dilatons, Moduli Nordstroms Scalar Gravity Kaluza-Klein Unification Dirac and Jordans Cosmology Scalar-Tensor Gravity Inflaton Quintessence

Gravity and the Tenacious Scalar Field Carl Brans, gr-qc/9705069