1996/08/29 by J. W. Moffat, Moffat, J. W.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #Relativity and Gravitational Theory
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9608202
openalex publication_date 1996/08/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A covariant Lagrangian formulation of a solution to the cosmological constant problem, based on vizualising the fluctuations of the vacuum energy as a non-equilibrium process with stochastic behaviour, is presented. The variational principle yields equations of motion for the cosmological ``constant" Λ, treated as a dynamical field, together with an equation for a Lagrange multiplier field ϕ, and the standard Einstein field equations with a variable cosmological constant term. A stochastic model of Λ yields a natural explanation for the smallness or zero value of the constant in the present epoch and its large value in an era of inflation in the early universe.