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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
New solution of the cosmological constant problems
John D Barrow1, Douglas J Shaw
1DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We extend the usual gravitational action principle by promoting the bare cosmological constant (CC) to a field which can take many possible values. Variation gives a new integral constraint equation for the classical value of the effective CC that dominates the wave function of the Universe. The expected value of the effective CC, is calculated from measurable quantities to be O(t(U)(-2)) as observed, where t(U) is the present age of the Universe in Planck units. This also leads to a falsifiable prediction for the observed spatial curvature parameter of Ω(k0) = -0.0055. Our proposal requires no fine-tunings or extra dark-energy fields but suggests a new view of time evolution.
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