RECORD
Exacerbating the cosmological constant problem with interacting dark energy
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Submitted 5 Jun 2016
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim Such models do not address the fine-tuning problem of the vacuum energy, i.e. the cosmological constant problem (c.c.p.), but can make it spectacularly worse.
The compiled record
The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
Open the compiled record
The abstract, sentence by sentence
Future cosmological surveys will probe the expansion history of the universe and constrain phenomenological models of dark energy. Such models do not address the fine-tuning problem of the vacuum energy, i.e. the cosmological constant problem (c.c.p.), but can make it spectacularly worse. We show that this is the case for 'interacting dark energy' models in which the masses of the dark matter states depend on the dark energy sector. If realised in nature, these models have far-reaching implications for proposed solutions to the c.c.p. that require the number of vacua to exceed the fine-tuning of the vacuum energy density. We show that current estimates of the number of flux vacua in string theory, $N_{\rm vac} \sim {\cal O}(10^{272,000})$, is far too small to realise certain simple models of interacting dark energy \emph{and} solve the cosmological constant problem anthropically. These models admit distinctive observational signatures that can be targeted by future gamma-ray observatories, hence making it possible to observationally rule out the anthropic solution to the cosmological constant problem in theories with a finite number of vacua.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | Future cosmological surveys will probe the expansion history of the universe and constrain phenomenological models of dark energy. | background 1.00 | 0.05 | 0.02 | hedged possibility 0.55 |
| s1 | Such models do not address the fine-tuning problem of the vacuum energy, i.e. the cosmological constant problem (c.c.p.), but can make it spectacularly worse. | background 0.86 | 0.10 | 0.38 | asserted 0.76 |
| s2 | We show that this is the case for 'interacting dark energy' models in which the masses of the dark matter states depend on the dark energy sector. | contribution 0.81 | 0.79 | 0.20 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | If realised in nature, these models have far-reaching implications for proposed solutions to the c.c.p. that require the number of vacua to exceed the fine-tuning of the vacuum energy density. | interpretation 0.99 | 0.31 | 0.18 | hedged possibility 0.81 |
| s4 | We show that current estimates of the number of flux vacua in string theory, $N_{\rm vac} \sim {\cal O}(10^{272,000})$, is far too small to realise certain simple models of interacting dark energy \emph{and} solve the cosmological constant problem anthropically. | result 0.99 | 0.75 | 0.51 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | These models admit distinctive observational signatures that can be targeted by future gamma-ray observatories, hence making it possible to observationally rule out the anthropic solution to the cosmological constant problem in theories with a finite number of vacua. | interpretation 0.77 | 0.43 | 0.34 | hedged possibility 0.62 |
What was examined, and what was not
- arXiv listing abstract v2
- full text
- figures and tables
- references and citing sentences
- relations to other papers
- P abstract
- S sections
- T body sentences
- C citations
- R cross-paper relations
The paper
Original abstract
Future cosmological surveys will probe the expansion history of the universe and constrain phenomenological models of dark energy. Such models do not address the fine-tuning problem of the vacuum energy, i.e. the cosmological constant problem (c.c.p.), but can make it spectacularly worse. We show that this is the case for 'interacting dark energy' models in which the masses of the dark matter states depend on the dark energy sector. If realised in nature, these models have far-reaching implications for proposed solutions to the c.c.p. that require the number of vacua to exceed the fine-tuning of the vacuum energy density. We show that current estimates of the number of flux vacua in string theory, $N_{\rm vac} \sim {\cal O}(10^{272,000})$, is far too small to realise certain simple models of interacting dark energy \emph{and} solve the cosmological constant problem anthropically. These models admit distinctive observational signatures that can be targeted by future gamma-ray observatories, hence making it possible to observationally rule out the anthropic solution to the cosmological constant problem in theories with a finite number of vacua.
Human review
References
How the literature uses it
14 arXiv papers cite this in 16 sentences
Papers citing it · 10 sentences without a confident label
Compares with it 1 paper
-
However, in comparison with other cosmological constraints on the time-evolution of $α$, which place constraints on $Δα/α$ ranging from $10^-2$ to $10^-7$ over a large redshift interval (see, e.g. [ref] ), the results shown in Table [ref] reflect the limitation of the current FRB observations in tightly constraining cosmological parameters.
A search for the fine-structure constant evolution from fast radio bursts and type Ia supernovae data · Results · 0.99
Cites it as background 5 papers
-
However, it has been argued by many investigators that the interaction between the dark components may appear from some effective field theory [ref] , disformal coupling [ref] , axion monodromies [ref] , varying dark matter mass and fundamental constants [ref] , Horndeski theories [ref] , or something else, such as the minimally varying Lambda theories [ref] .
Dark calling Dark: Interaction in the dark sector in presence of neutrino properties after Planck CMB final release · Interaction in the dark sector · 0.82
-
Quantum field theory of dark energy interacting with dark matter was recently discussed in [ref] .
A Fully Self-Consistent Cosmological Simulation Pipeline for Interacting Dark Energy Models · Introduction · 0.97
-
Although several attempts have been made to derive the interaction function from some action principle [ref] , but no decisive conclusion has been made yet.
On the interacting dark energy scenarios $-$ the case for Hubble constant tension · Interacting DE · 0.81
What it cites · 22 sentences without a confident label
Builds on 2 papers
-
We here review how theories with varying $α$ exacerbate the c.c.p., and we extend the results of [ref] by computing the additional fine-tuning required to keep the vacuum energy sufficiently small in such theories.
Spatial gradients in the cosmological constant · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.93
-
We here review how theories with varying $α$ exacerbate the c.c.p., and we extend the results of [ref] by computing the additional fine-tuning required to keep the vacuum energy sufficiently small in such theories.
Time-Varying alpha and Particle Physics · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.93
Uses data or values from 5 papers
-
N_vac ≈{[ O(10^506) IIB on ℂℙ_1,1,1,6,9 [ref] ,; O(10^272,000) F-theory on M_max [ref] . ] .
Building a Better Racetrack · Introduction · 0.97
-
N_vac ≈{[ O(10^506) IIB on ℂℙ_1,1,1,6,9 [ref] ,; O(10^272,000) F-theory on M_max [ref] . ] .
The F-theory geometry with most flux vacua · Introduction · 0.97
-
To illustrate the severity of the additional fine-tuning, we take $δα_m/α̅= 10^-6$, as motivated by the observations [ref] , and impose that the vacuum energy is subleading to the matter energy density at $z= 3$ (around which time light from the distant quasars was emitted) so that $ρ_m = 4^3 Ω_m,0 ρ_c$.
Indications of a spatial variation of the fine structure constant · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.93
Cites as support 1 paper
-
[ref] , which argued that variations $δα/α ≳10^-37$ would require additional fine-tuning of the vacuum energy, hence making quintessence models with varying constants unnatural, and in ref.
Time-Varying alpha and Particle Physics · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.97
Cites as background 13 papers
-
Such models have been considered in great detail in the literature (see [ref] and references therein), largely motivated by the claimed detection a variation in $α$ inferred from observations from distant quasars [ref] .
Indications of a spatial variation of the fine structure constant · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.91
-
Such models have been considered in great detail in the literature (see [ref] and references therein), largely motivated by the claimed detection a variation in $α$ inferred from observations from distant quasars [ref] .
Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.91
-
Such models have been considered in great detail in the literature (see [ref] and references therein), largely motivated by the claimed detection a variation in $α$ inferred from observations from distant quasars [ref] .
Spatial variation in the fine-structure constant -- new results from VLT/UVES · Varying $α$ and the c.c.p. · 0.91
Discussion
Know something about this paper? Leave a comment, or highlight any passage above to comment on it.