Emergent perspective of cosmology and the solution to the cosmological constant problem

T. Padmanabhan1*
Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pune 411 007, India

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Abstract

The emergent gravity paradigm allows one to view the expansion of the universe as a quest for holographic equipartition. This perspective suggests introducing a new, dimensionless, conserved number Nc (‘CosMIn’) which counts the number of modes crossing the Hubble radius during the three phases of evolution of the universe, viz., the inflationary phase, the matter/radiation dominated phase and the late time acceleration phase. Theoretical considerations suggest that Nc ≈ 4π. This single postulate leads us to the correct, observed, numerical value of the cosmological constant! This approach also provides a unified picture of cosmic evolution relating the early inflationary phase to the late accelerating phase.



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Keywords : cosmology: theory, cosmological parameters, early universe