Cosmological constant, violation of cosmological isotropy and CMB

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the cosmological constant can be explained through standard model physics interacting with gravity's infrared sector, predicting observable anisotropy in the CMB that can be tested with current and future data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel explanation for the cosmological constant linking QCD parameters with cosmology, and predicts specific anisotropy signatures in the CMB.

Findings

The cosmological constant can be derived from QCD parameters and the Hubble constant.

Predicted universe size is around 74 Gpc for a flat, constant time hypersurface.

WMAP data shows potential anisotropy consistent with the model, testable by PLANCK.

Abstract

We suggest that the solution to the cosmological vacuum energy puzzle does not require any new field beyond the standard model, but rather can be explained as a result of the interaction of the infrared sector of the effective theory of gravity with standard model fields. The cosmological constant in this framework can be presented in terms of QCD parameters and the Hubble constant $H$ as follows, $\epsilon_{vac} \sim H \cdot m_q\la\bar{q}q\ra /m_{\eta'} \sim (4.3\cdot 10^{-3} \text{eV})^4$, which is amazingly close to the observed value today. In this work we explain how this proposal can be tested by analyzing CMB data. In particular, knowing the value of the observed cosmological constant fixes univocally the smallest size of the spatially flat, constant time 3d hypersurface which, for instance in the case of an effective 1-torus, is predicted to be around 74 Gpc. We also comment on another important prediction of this framework which is a violation of cosmological isotropy. Such anisotropy is indeed apparently observed by WMAP, and will be confirmed (or ruled out) by future PLANCK data.