On the origin of the cosmological constant

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the small positive cosmological constant arises from quantum tunneling between degenerate vacua in theories like non-Abelian gauge theories, explaining its observed value.

Contribution

It introduces a novel explanation for the cosmological constant based on degenerate vacua and quantum tunneling, linking it to topological vacua in gauge theories.

Findings

Vacuum energy density can be explained by tunneling between degenerate vacua.

The model accounts for the small but finite cosmological constant.

Topological vacua in gauge theories provide a concrete example.

Abstract

Under the assumption that the cosmological constant vanishes in the true ground state with lowest possible energy density, we argue that the observed small but finite vacuum-like energy density can be explained if we consider a theory with two or more degenerate perturbative vacua, which are unstable due to quantum tunneling, and if we still live in one of such states. An example is given making use of the topological vacua in non-Abelian gauge theories.