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Why is the Cosmological Constant So Very Small?

MAR 01, 1989

A blatant discrepancy between theory and observation can be seen as a promising spur toward deeper understanding. But the gap between theory and measurements of the cosmological constant was too much of a good thing. If one expresses this fundamental parameter of cosmic geometry as the inverse square of a length, it is clear from observation of distant galaxies that this length is, at the very least, a billion light years. The quantum field theory of the elementary particles, however, could not allow a length much larger than 10−33cm—the Planck length—unless one invoked a seemingly miraculous and totally implausible cancellation of elementary‐particle parameters.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 42, Number 3

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