The Cosmological Constant Problem in Scalar Gravity

Speaker: Prateek Agrawal , Harvard

When: April 25, 2016 (Mon), 03:30PM to 04:30PM (add to my calendar)
Location: PRB 595

This event is part of the HET Seminar Series.

I will discuss a toy theory of gravity where the gravitational force is mediated by a scalar particle. This theory can be understood as the low-energy limit of a spontaneously broken Conformal Field Theory, and serves as an intriguing analog to General Relativity, capturing many qualitative features. In fact, it exhibits a fine-tuning problem closely resembling the cosmological constant problem. A solution to this cosmological constant problem in scalar gravity has been proposed. I will discuss an explicit realization of this solution and its connections with the cosmological constant problem in our universe.