Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1993-12-16
Int.J.Mod.Phys. D2 (1993) 323-350
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
32 pages of plain latex, FNAL--PUB--93/039-A
Scientific paper
10.1142/S0218271893000234
There exists a growing body of observational evidence supporting a non-vanishing cosmological constant at the present epoch. We examine the possibility that such a term may arise directly from the potential energy which drove an inflationary expansion of the very early universe. To avoid arbitrary alterations in the shape of this potential at various epochs it is necessary to introduce a time-dependent viscosity into the system. The evolution of the effective Planck mass in scalar-tensor theories is a natural candidate for such an effect. In these models there are observational constraints arising from anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background, large-scale galactic structure, observations of the primordial Helium abundance and solar system tests of general relativity. Decaying power law and exponential potentials are considered, but for these models it is very difficult to simultaneously satisfy all of the limits. This may have implications for the joint evolution of the gravitational and cosmological constants.
Frewin Richard A.
Lidsey James E.
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