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Abstract

The old cosmological constant problem is to understand why the vacuum energy is so small; the new problem is to understand why it is comparable to the present mass density. Several approaches to these problems are reviewed. Quintessence does not help with either; anthropic considerations offer a possibility of solving both. In theories with a scalar field that takes random initial values, the anthropic principle may apply to the cosmological constant, but probably to nothing else.

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Weinberg, S. (2001). The Cosmological Constant Problems. In: Cline, D.B. (eds) Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04587-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04587-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07446-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04587-9

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