A New View of the Cosmic Landscape

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new perspective on the cosmic landscape in string theory, suggesting that the short lifetime of meta-stable deSitter vacua explains the smallness of dark energy, based on resonance tunneling and landscape topography.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dynamical explanation for the small dark energy by analyzing the landscape's topography and resonance tunneling effects.

Findings

Meta-stable deSitter vacua have short lifetimes in the landscape.

Smaller vacuum energy correlates with longer vacuum lifetime.

Mapping landscape topography can test the proposed scenario.

Abstract

In this scenario, a generic meta-stable deSitter vacuum site in the cosmic landscape in string theory has a very short lifetime. Typically, the smaller is the vacuum energy of a meta-stable site, the longer is its lifetime. This view of the landscape can provide a qualitative dynamical explanation why the dark energy of our universe is so small. The argument for this scenario is based on resonance tunneling, a well-known quantum mechanical phenomenon, the topography of the landscape, and the vastness of the cosmic landscape. Mapping the topography of the landscape, even if only in a small region, will test the validity of this scenario.