Time evolution of T_{\mu\nu} and the cosmological constant problem

Abstract

We study the cosmic time evolution of an effective quantum field theory energy-momentum tensor T_{\mu\nu} and show that, as a consequence of the effective nature of the theory, the structure of T_{\mu\nu} is such that the vacuum energy decreases with time. We find that the zero point energy at present time is washed out by the cosmological evolution. The implications of this finding for the cosmological constant problem are investigated.