A technical analog of the cosmological constant problem and a solution thereof

Abstract The near vanishing of the cosmological constant is one of the most puzzling open problems in theoretical physics. We consider a system, the so-called framid, that features a technically similar problem. Its stress-energy tensor has a Lorentz-invariant expectation value on the ground state,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ioanna Kourkoulou, Alberto Nicolis, Guanhao Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2021-04-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2021)247
Description
Summary:Abstract The near vanishing of the cosmological constant is one of the most puzzling open problems in theoretical physics. We consider a system, the so-called framid, that features a technically similar problem. Its stress-energy tensor has a Lorentz-invariant expectation value on the ground state, yet there are no standard, symmetry-based selection rules enforcing this, since the ground state spontaneously breaks boosts. We verify the Lorentz invariance of the expectation value in question with explicit one-loop computations. These, however, yield the expected result only thanks to highly nontrivial cancellations, which are quite mysterious from the low-energy effective theory viewpoint.
ISSN:1029-8479